At least 31 killed as overcrowded bus plunges into ravine in northern Ethiopia

At least 31 people have been killed and dozens more injured after an overcrowded bus crashed in northern Ethiopia, police have confirmed. The vehicle was travelling towards Addis Ababa when it veered off a mountainous road and fell into a ravine in the Amhara region. The crash happened early on Monday on the Harego road, a zigzagging route surrounded by forest near the town of Dessie.

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Police said the bus plunged about 100 metres into the ravine after leaving the road. Images shared on social media showed a badly damaged vehicle broken apart beside a hillside, though the full scale of the wreckage has not been independently verified in the supplied material. The confirmed death toll stands at at least 31, with dozens injured.

The rows also say several people died because they received medical attention too late. The immediate response has been shaped by difficult terrain and limited emergency access. According to the supplied material, poor infrastructure and a lack of ambulance services meant some victims had to make their own way to treatment centres, which may have worsened injuries.

The crash adds to a long-running pattern of deadly road accidents in Ethiopia, where official statistics have shown road traffic deaths more than doubled between 2007 and 2018. The incident matters because it highlights the continuing human cost of road safety failures in a country already described in the supplied material as having notoriously dangerous roads. The mountainous route between Dessie and Addis Ababa is part of a wider transport network where road markings, signage and emergency response capacity have been identified as weak points.

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In this case, the combination of overcrowding, difficult geography and delayed medical care appears to have increased the toll. The supplied background also places the crash in a broader national context. A United Nations report has said a lack of traffic signage and road markings poses a significant safety risk in Ethiopia.

The country has seen other serious transport disasters, including a December 2024 crash in which 71 people were killed when a truck fell into a river in the southern Sidama region. That history underlines how repeated road incidents continue to expose gaps in infrastructure and emergency response. What remains unclear is the exact number of passengers on the bus, the full extent of injuries and whether any official rescue operation is still under way.

The supplied material does not give details on the identities of the victims or whether any investigation has begun into the cause of the crash. Further updates are likely to focus on the final casualty count, the condition of the injured and any response from local authorities.

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