Ethiopia hunger: About 225 starve to death in Tigray – officials

More than 200 people have starved to death since July in Edaga Arbi town, in Ethiopia’s drought-hit and war-scarred Tigray region, local authorities say.

Another 16 have died in nearby Adwa town.

Officials in Tigray warn the region is on the brink of famine on a scale last seen in 1984, prompting the global fundraising music event Live Aid the following year.

But famine is a highly sensitive word in Ethiopia.

The central government in Addis Ababa denies famine is looming and says it is working to provide aid.

“As a doctor, I witness non-stop dying. Having my knowledge and skills but no means to help my people is futile,” Desta Kahsay in the city of Shire tells the BBC.

He says it is like “doomsday”, with people dying needlessly of preventable causes.

Many of those dying are children and young people.

Tigray resident Abrehet Kiros tells the regional TV channel she regularly checks up on her elderly neighbour, who has no remaining family to support her after her grandson died in the recent civil war.