According to Ethiopian media reports, on the evening of July 21 local time, a landslide occurred in the Gofa Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region in southern Ethiopia, causing heavy casualties and property losses. The cumulative death toll has now exceeded 229, and the number of casualties is expected to rise further.

According to the chairman of the local emergency response committee, rescue teams have so far found 229 bodies, including 148 males and 81 females, among them children, but the death toll may increase. Rescue efforts are being intensified, though volunteers have pointed out that the lack of mechanical equipment poses a very great challenge to the search process.

It is understood that the cause of this landslide was that the Gofa area, about 100 km from Yirgacheffe in Ethiopia, recently experienced heavy rainfall, which loosened the soil and led to the landslide on the evening of the 21st. After the accident, rescue was carried out immediately, but at around 10 a.m. on July 22, a second landslide occurred, burying rescue workers and onlookers, which led to a sharp increase in the number of fatalities.

As early as April to early May of this year, southern Ethiopia experienced heavy rainfall, with floods raging, affecting more than 19,000 people in the region, displacing over a thousand people and damaging infrastructure.

And on July 19, the Ethiopian government had already issued a safety warning that, due to heavy rainfall, Ethiopia would face a widespread flood risk. And now Ethiopia has entered the heavy rain season, with frequent heavy rainfall from July to September, which will trigger risks of floods, waterlogging and landslides.

Therefore, the Ethiopian Minister of State listed Oromia, Afar, Somali, Tigray, Gambella, Benishangul-Gumuz, Amhara, the Southern Nations region and the capital Addis Ababa as areas that may be hit by floods.

In addition, the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia also took note of this incident and issued a notice. The notice said that June to October is the rainy season in Ethiopia, with heavy rainfall that easily triggers geological disasters such as floods and landslides. It therefore reminds Chinese citizens and institutions in Ethiopia to strengthen their awareness of natural disaster prevention, pay close attention to weather forecasts and various warning information, and effectively step up flood control and disaster prevention measures.

Moreover, the accident this time occurred in southern Ethiopia, which is home to quite a few coffee-producing regions, such as Kaffa, Djimmah and Yirgacheffe (Yirgacheffe) and others, and belongs to Ethiopia's large-scale commercial coffee-producing regions. Ethiopia's coffee harvest season runs from October to March of the following year, and during this period, heavy rain will knock some berries off the trees, while floods and landslides will directly damage the coffee-growing environment and some infrastructure, ultimately leading to a reduction in coffee production.

At present, however, Ethiopia's coffee industry is full of difficulties. In northern Ethiopia, conflict has been ongoing, and a civil war could break out in the future. Meanwhile, the southern region will need to face disasters such as heavy rainfall in the near term, leading to reduced coffee production. In addition, the Red Sea crisis has been affecting Djibouti Port, Ethiopia's only port, thereby affecting the export volume and physical costs of Ethiopian coffee and other goods. In response, many people in the coffee industry hope the government can resolve the problems as soon as possible.