Ten Christians were killed and hundreds are injured when their bleachers collapsed during Timkat in Ethiopia.
Ethiopian News Agency says the seating area collapsed during the celebrations. The celebration continued after the collapse despite attendees and emergency crews working to remove people from the rubble.
Christians were celebrating Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River on Monday during the orthodox celebration in Gondar. Each year hundreds of thousands of people make the trip to participate in the festival.
An international reporter took a photo of the stand before the collapse, noting it appeared to be poorly made.
This was the stand minutes before it's collapse. Witnesses said, it was assembled poorly and quickly by young people with little experience and no professional supervision and materials. pic.twitter.com/9ckDfoyapm
— Samuel Getachew (@GetachewSS) January 20, 2020
Timkat is considered Ethiopia's "most colourful holiday" by attendees. The three-day festival is celebrated across the country with prayer, singing, and baptisms.
VIDEO: 🇪🇹 At least ten people were killed and scores injured when a seating area collapsed during the Orthodox Christian celebration of Epiphany in the Ethiopian city of #Gondar, a hospital official says pic.twitter.com/givveIDwkB
— AFP news agency (@AFP) January 21, 2020