3 October 2025 – It is with deep sorrow that we note the terrible loss of 36 and injury of over 200 people on October 1st, 2025, at the Church of the Holy Virgin Mary at Arerti, in the district of Minjar-Shenkora, North Shewa Zone. The wood scaffolding inside the church, which is currently under construction, collapsed while numerous people were touring the site on the occasion of the Feast Day known popularly as “Bizuhan Mariam or St. Mary of the Multitude.” The dead and injured included many children and elderly people.
We pray that the Almighty Creator repose the souls of the dead in paradise, that He grant a swift recovery to the injured, and consolation to the bereaved.
Prince Ermias Sahle Selassie Haile Selassie, President of the Crown Council of Ethiopia.
