Story out of Bishoftu, Ethiopia:
Dozens of people were crushed to death Sunday in a stampede in Bishoftu, Ethiopia, after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse an anti-government protest that grew out of a massive religious festival, witnesses said.
The Oromia regional government confirmed the death toll at 52.
The stampede occurred in one of the East African country's most politically sensitive regions, Oromia, which has seen months of sometimes deadly demonstrations demanding wider freedoms.
An estimated two million people were attending the annual Irrecha thanksgiving festival in the town southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, when people began chanting slogans against the government, according to witnesses.
The chanting crowds pressed toward a stage where religious leaders were speaking, the witnesses said, and some threw rocks and plastic bottles.
Police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets, and people tried to flee. Some were crushed in nearby ditches, witnesses said.
Ethiopia's government, a close security ally of the West, has been accused often of silencing dissent, at times blocking internet access.
The months of anti-government protests and the sometimes harsh government response have raised international concern. Cont.
Story from - CBC News/AP
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