Ethiopia Rail Disaster Kills 14 Near Dire Dawa: Overcrowded Train Collides With Parked Wagons, Dozens Injured

Dire Dawa, Ethiopia— The train was full beyond its limits. On Tuesday afternoon an overcrowded passenger service running toward Dire Dawa failed to stop and slammed into stationary freight railcars on the same track. Fourteen people died on impact.

Africanews and local authorities said the collision happened at around 3:40 p.m. near Mieso, on the Addis Ababa-Djibouti corridor. The passenger train carried workers, traders, and students. Many rode on the roof and clung to doors. When the brakes locked, bodies flew.

The lead locomotive crumpled into the parked wagons loaded with grain. Two passenger cars derailed and tipped. Survivors crawled out through windows. The line is single track for long stretches with old signaling. Manual dispatch still controls sections.

"The train was shouting with people," a survivor with a bandaged head said from Dire Dawa Referral Hospital. "We were packed. Then a hard hit. Darkness. People on top of people." He had been traveling to sell khat.

Rail officials said the stationary railcars had been left on a siding that bled onto the main line after a coupling failure earlier in the day. Warning flags were reportedly placed, but not at regulation distance. The investigation will look at that.

Ethiopia's rail network is under strain. The standard gauge line built for freight now carries far more passengers than planned. Tickets are cheap. Enforcement of capacity limits is weak. Accidents on this corridor have killed dozens since 2020.

Hospitals in Dire Dawa called for blood donations Tuesday night. Local authorities said more than 30 were injured, several critically. Families gathered at the station, holding names on paper. The track stayed closed.

The Ministry of Transport said it formed a technical committee to probe signaling and dispatch procedures. The committee has 14 days to report. Similar committees have reported before.

Tonight cranes are lifting the derailed cars. The dead are in the morgue. The line is silent.