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Addis Ababa — Ethiopia began three days of national mourning yesterday for 52 people who were killed in a stampede at a religious festival after police clashed with anti-government protesters, according to state-controlled media.

The country’s Oromo community had gathered on Sunday in the town of Bishoftu near the capital Addis Ababa for their Irreecha (thanksgiving) ceremony to mark the end of the rainy season. Chaos erupted after police charged protesters among those at the festival and fired tear gas, triggering a stampede.

The regional government said in a statement that 52 people had died after panic swept through the massive crowd, with some festival-goers falling into a deep ravine. An opposition leader said he believed the real toll was much higher, possibly more than 100.

The national flag was being flown at half-mast in government institutions and regular radio programmes were replaced with music as the nation mourned those killed. The regional government blamed “irresponsible forces” for the disaster.

Ethiopia is facing its biggest anti-government unrest in a decade and the festival at a sacred lake quickly turned political, with participants chanting and crossing their wrists above their heads, a gesture that has become a symbol of protest by the Oromo.

“The annual Irreecha festival has been disrupted due to a violence created by some groups… Loss of lives has occurred due to a stampede,” said a government statement.

As the heaving crowd chanted slogans for freedom, some protesters lobbed stones and bottles at security forces who responded with baton charges and volleys of tear gas. There were some reports of gunfire.

Merera Gudina, chairman of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress, told AFP he believed there had been many more fatalities than the number officially announced.

“Bodies are being collected by the government. But what I hear from people on the ground is that the number of dead is more than 100,” said Gudina. — Al Jazeera.