A day after the joyous celebration of a religious festival, an Orthodox Christian church in the small Ethiopian town of Arerti was holding mass funerals for the 36 worshippers killed when scaffolding inside the building collapsed. Hundreds of mourners walked with coffins draped in colorful cloth into the compound of the Arerti Mariam church while clerics conducted burial rituals. Among them was 22-year-old Fikre Tilahun, who told the BBC that he had lost his mother in the tragedy. It's difficult to lose your mother, very difficult, he said.

Worshippers had gathered at the church, about 70 km from the capital Addis Ababa, as part of the annual Orthodox Christian celebration of St Mary. Eyewitness Gebreweld Tesfaye recounted that many congregants climbed onto the makeshift scaffolding to view a newly painted mural when it unexpectedly gave way. Chaos ensued as people scattered in panic or tried to save those trapped.

After hearing about the disaster, Fikre rushed to the church and later to a health center but could not find his mother. Sadly, he discovered her among the deceased. The death toll may rise as some of the approximately 200 injured remain in critical condition. The archbishop of the local diocese expressed that the incident was incredibly tragic and heartbreaking, while the government emphasized the need for improved safety measures during construction projects.