'Swallowed by mud': survivors' sorrow after deadly Ethiopian landslide

Survivor Tseganesh Obole, her voice hoarse, recalled the deadly deluge of red mud that swept down from a hill in a remote area of southern Ethiopia this week, engulfing her and her six children.

"I was swallowed by a mudslide along with many people, including my children," she told AFP, clutching her breast as her family stood in shock nearby.

Her brother, Dawit, clawed through the sodden soil to get her out.

"But four of my children died and remained buried in the mud," the 30-year-old said, her voice suddenly deadened.

And Obole's husband is still among those missing, presumed buried somewhere in the rough earth.

Her family is among the thousands of people affected in the deadliest landslide so far recorded in the country, which is highly vulnerable to climate-related disasters.

At least 257 have perished, according to latest toll from the UN's humanitarian agency OCHA, which also warned that up to 500 might have died -- with the number of missing unknown.

Having been pulled from the soil himself, Dawit said he returned to dig his sister out of the mud -- only for tragedy to strike.

"When I went there the second time, only two of her children survived."

While humanitarian agencies have rushing to mobilise aid to the stricken community, images from the remote Kencho Shacha Gozdi kebele (ward) showed residents were often using only shovels and their bare hands to scrabble through the mud.

Weeping men and women ululated and swayed as body after body was pulled from the tumbled dirt, the rain pouring and worsening an already precarious situation for local inhabitants.

- Second wave -

Exhausted residents supported one another as people collapsed crying at the scene, hoping their relatives and loved ones might be pulled alive from the treacherous mud.

More than 15,000 affected people, including children and pregnant women, need to be evacuated urgently because of the risk of further landslides in the remote and mountainous area, according to OCHA.

The first landslide claimed some lives, officials said, but a second deadly wave of mud -- carrying away many who were attempting to rescue people -- sent the death toll soaring.

Regional state media shared scenes from the disaster, with one graphic clip showing dozens of men surrounding a pit where human limbs were exposed and tangled in the mud.

It comes as in South Ethiopia state is already suffering after seasonal rains between April and early May caused flooding, mass displacement and damage to livelihoods and infrastructure.

Still, officials said search and rescue operations were ongoing, aided by drones.

But more often than not, recovery efforts were ending in tragedy.

As the light began to leave the no-man's land of the wrecked hillside, still swarming with rescuers, one young man collapsed wailing into the mud.

Mournful cries echoed on the bare hill, as he wept: "I can't go home without finding my brother, I will sleep here."