52 confirmed dead in stampede at Ethiopia religious event

Dozens of people were crushed to death on Sunday in a stampede after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse an antigovernment protest that grew out of a massive religious festival, witnesses said. The Oromia regional government confirmed the death toll at 52.

"I almost died in that place today," said one shaken protester who gave his name only as Elias. Mud-covered and shoeless, he said he had been dragged out of a deep ditch that many people fell into as they tried to flee. The first to fall in had suffocated, he said. "Many people have managed to get out alive, but I'm sure many more others were down there," he said. "It is really shocking."

The stampede occurred in one of the East African country's most politically sensitive regions, Oromia, which has seen months of sometimes deadly demonstrations demanding wider freedoms.

An estimated 2 million people were attending the annual Irrecha thanksgiving festival in the town of Bishoftu, southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, when people began chanting slogans against the government, according to witnesses.

The chanting crowds pressed toward a stage where religious leaders were speaking, the witnesses said, and some threw rocks and plastic bottles.

Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, and people tried to flee. Some were crushed in nearby ditches, witnesses said.

In its statement, the Oromia regional government blamed "evil acts masterminded by forces who are irresponsible," and it denied that the deaths were caused by any actions by security forces.

Mulatu Gemechu of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress told The Associated Press that his sources at hospitals said at least 52 people were dead as of Sunday evening, but he thought the figure would rise.