Addis Ababa

Followers of the Orthodox Church - the most widely practised faith in the country - were observing part of the Epiphany celebrations on Thursday when clashes broke out with youths from the neighbouring Oromia region.

The number of casualities could increase as witnesses say some people are unaccounted for.

The government has vowed to ensure those behind the violence are prosecuted.

The Epiphany festival, known in Ethiopia as Timket, has continued with a heavy security presence. The event has Unesco's World Heritage status.

They say dozens of people are still missing since the landslide on Saturday night at the Koshe landfill. A resident said 150 people were there at the time.

A number of makeshift houses are now buried under tonnes of waste.

The area has been a dumping ground for Addis Ababa's rubbish for more than five decades.

Local resident Tebeju Asres told the AP news agency that the family's house had been swallowed by the landslide.

"My mother and three of my sisters were there when the landslide happened. Now I don't know the fate of all of them."

Grave concerns remain, however, over political freedoms in this nation of more than 90 million — Africa's second largest — and opposition figures fear that the visit, coming on the heels of an improbable 100 percent ruling party win in elections, will give international legitimacy to a repressive government.