Merera Gudina, chairperson of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, told Reuters news agency at least 50 people were killed when people fled after police fired tear gas and shots in the air to disperse anti-government protesters at a crowded religious festival. Read more: Ottawa urged to advocate for human rights in Ethiopia

An estimated 2 million people were attending the annual Irrecha thanksgiving festival in the town of Bishoftu, southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, when people began chanting slogans against the government, according to witnesses. Police demanded that the photographer leave the scene, where rubber bullets were seen strewn on the ground. Mud-covered and shoeless, he said he had been dragged out of a deep ditch that many people fell into as they tried to flee. Ethiopia is facing its biggest anti-government unrest in a decade and some festival participants had crossed their wrists above their heads, a gesture that has become a symbol of protest by the Oromo community, according to an AFP photographer.
Police allegedly attack Oromo protestors at a religious festival in Bishoftu, Ethiopia causing a stampede which kills dozens of people.