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Twenty-four hours after joyous faith-based observances, collective funerals took place in the small Ethiopian town of the local area for the thirty-six people killed when scaffolding inside an religious place of worship collapsed.

Numerous grieving individuals processed with caskets covered in colorful cloth into the grounds of a nearby church while clerics performed funerary rituals following the disaster at St Mariam Church.

Among the mourners was young adult Fikre Tilahun, who stated that he had lost his mother in the disaster.

"It's difficult to be separated from your parent, very difficult," he said.

Although the church is currently being built, worshippers had assembled in the structure on midweek during the annual Orthodox Christian observance of the religious figure.

Eyewitness Account of Incident

Eyewitness a local man described that a considerable group of worshippers chose to ascend onto the temporary scaffolding to observe a recently completed mural on the ceiling of the building when tragedy occurred.

"The staircase was entirely wooden, and there were many people climbing upward at the moment. As the worshippers were going, the wooden structure gave way, causing the failure," the witness stated.

Additional eyewitnesses said that pandemonium followed, as individuals scattered in fear or tried to rescue the people of those pinned beneath the rubble.

Individual Loss

Mr Fikre explained that immediately after he heard of the disaster, he hurried to the site, and then to a health centre to search for his parent, but she was not at any location.

"A relative called me after that. And then I proceeded to the hospital. Her body was present," Mr Fikre expressed.

His mother was among the 36 dead, with rescue personnel indicating that the death toll could increase as a portion of the wounded, totaling approximately two hundred, were in critical condition. Several of them have been moved to Addis Ababa, about 70 km away, for medical care.

Official Reaction

The archbishop of the local religious district, Megabi Hadis Nekatibeb, characterized the tragedy as "incredibly devastating and heart-breaking".

The bereaved son said life would not be the same for him and his younger brother without their mother.

"She supported us by making and marketing tella," he told.

The authorities expressed its sympathies to the family members of the victims, and stated that "security must be emphasized" during all construction projects.

Safety standards are poorly enforced in the country and building disasters are frequent.