Hunger kills 50 people in Ethiopia amid drought

More than 50 people have died in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray and Amhara regions due to drought-induced hunger, local officials have told the BBC.

According to Tigray’s Disaster Risk Management office, 46 displaced people died after having already left their homes because of drought.

The deaths occurred in a town called Yechila, the office’s head Gebrehiwot Gebregziabher said.

In the neighbouring Amhara area of Wag Hemra, at least six people and 4,000 cattle have died because of food shortages prompted by drought, a local official has said.

For more than five months, the US and the UN had suspended food aid to Ethiopia following allegations of massive theft.

This exacerbated the humanitarian crises in the country where war and extreme weather events had left millions dependent on aid.

While parts of northern Ethiopia are facing a severe drought, the country’s southern and eastern regions are expected to be hit by unusually heavy rains.

According to the UN, more than 40 people have died in recent weeks due to floods and landslides, many of whom are in the eastern Somali region.