As a result of the collapse of wooden seating has led to the death of at least ten people gathered in Gondar to celebrate Epiphany, which is annually celebrated colorfully by Ethiopian Orthodox Christians.
Eye witnesses say that the death occurred as a result of the increase in the number of people to attend the ceremony. Earlier this week the City administration of Goondar indicated that they are expecting up to two million people to attend the Timket (Epiphany) festivity. Meanwhile the death is not yet confirmed by the state media so far. Though foreign media including Al Jazeera and France 24 have reported death with a different number of causalities.
Hundreds of thousands of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians annually gather in the historic city of Gondar in the northern part of Ethiopia to celebrate Epiphany, which recently is listed in UNESCO as one of the world’s intangible cultural heritage. In addition to Ethiopia, today countries with Orthodox Christians like Egypt, Serbia, Russia have also celebrated Epiphany today, which is annual celebrated to remember the day Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist.