Addis Ababa, 2 October 2025 (dpa/MIA) – At least 30 people were killed and dozens more injured after a scaffolding collapsed in an Orthodox church in Ethiopia, officials said on Wednesday.

Seyoum Altye, a doctor at a hospital in the city of Arerti, told dpa that hundreds of worshippers had gathered in the church in the northern Amhara region to celebrate a religious holiday, despite ongoing renovations.

State broadcaster EBC reported that the church's roughly 50-metre-high walls had been surrounded by scaffolding that did not meet building regulations. Some worshippers reportedly climbed the structure for a better view, causing it to collapse and bury dozens beneath.

Rescue teams worked late into Wednesday night to free people trapped under the debris.

MIA file photo