Death toll from Ethiopia landslide hits 257, could reach 500: UN

Rescuers are pressing on with the grim search for bodies and survivors in the stricken locality of Kencho Shacha Gozdi, with crowds of distraught locals digging through a sea of mud often using just their bare hands and shovels.

"The death toll has risen to 257," as of July 24, the UN's humanitarian agency OCHA said in statement citing local authorities. "The death toll is expected to rise to up to 500 people."

OCHA said more than 15,000 people need to be evacuated because of the high risk of further landslides, including at least 1,320 children under the age of five and 5,293 pregnant women or new mothers.

Aid has begun arriving in the isolated, hard-to-reach area, including four trucks of life-saving supplies from the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, it said.

The landslide is the deadliest on record in Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous nation which is often battered by climate-related disasters.

Officials have said that most of the victims were buried after they rushed to help after the first landslide, which followed heavy rain on Sunday in the area roughly 480 km from the capital Addis Ababa -- about a 10-hour drive.

Villagers carried bodies on makeshift stretchers while in a nearby tent women wailed as they sat near a row of bodies wrapped in shrouds being prepared for burial.

OCHA said 12 people who sustained injuries had been taken to a local hospital, while at least 125 are displaced and sheltering with other local residents.

The number of missing is not known.

UN chief Antonio Guterres sent his condolences over the disaster, with his spokesman Stephane Dujarric saying he was "deeply saddened".

"The United Nations and its partners are working closely with the Government, evaluating the humanitarian situation to determine the extent of the damage and assess the humanitarian needs of the affected population," Dujarric said.