Addis Ababa - Fourteen children were killed and 67 others injured yesterday during a stampede at a memorial service for Ethiopian victims of their war against Eritrea, witnesses said.
They said a stampede broke out when rain started falling at the Addis Ababa amphitheatre in Ethiopia's capital, where thousands of students were watching a cultural show called to commemorate an Eritrean air raid.
"The students fell upon each other . . . and many were hurt as a result," one witness said. "There was pandemonium and utter confusion as the injured started wailing and calling for help."
Local first aid officials put the death toll at 14 with 67 others injured - three of them seriously. The children were all school pupils aged between 12 and 16.
Ethiopia and Eritrea have been at war since May 1988 and tens of thousands of people from both sides have died in the conflict.