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The death toll from weekend Ethiopia floods that devastated an eastern town rose to 250 on Thursday as rescue efforts entered a fourth day, making it the worst flooding disaster to date in the impoverished Horn of Africa nation, the government and police said. About 10 000 people are still displaced.

Rescuers clawed through mud and debris with their hands, garden tools and heavy equipment in eastern Ethiopia on Monday, searching for hundreds of people missing after lethal flash floods. Officials said 206 bodies had been recovered but the toll was expected to climb as 300 people were still unaccounted for.