Decisive hours for the rescue of the group of 18 tourists and their guide, the vast majority Catalans, trapped for nine days in a roadside hostel in northwestern Ethiopia. During yesterday afternoon, the Ethiopian army recovered positions in a territory controlled by the local Fano militia and occupied the town where the group of travelers is confined. This move paves the way for a prompt evacuation of Spanish citizens to the city of Bahir Dar, 80 kilometers to the south and which has an airport, or to Gondar, in the north.
According to sources close to the mission, who called for caution in the face of the extreme volatility of the situation, government troops were checking late yesterday that the roads were safe and free of rebels before activating a security corridor for the rescue of tourists, scheduled for this morning.
They will have to wait a little longer to get home: Ethiopia’s poor road network and poor domestic flight connections would delay the group’s possible arrival in Spain until the weekend or even next Monday morning.
Inma de Blas, one of the tourists trapped in the group, organized by the Barcelona agency Kananga, which specializes in African trips by truck, confirmed to this newspaper yesterday that the military entered without violent opposition in the face of the rebels’ rapid retreat. “The army has just entered the town peacefully and is securing control of the road.” Although progress was being made towards a final resolution last night, the authorities advised Spanish tourists not to leave their rooms yet for security reasons.
Travelers have been stranded in the African country since Wednesday, August 2, when they were caught in a crossfire between the Ethiopian army and Fano rebel militias at a midpoint on the route from the cities of Gondar to Bahir Dar in the around Lake Tana, where the Blue Nile River originates. After throwing themselves on the floor of the van to avoid the shots, the group quickly took refuge in the local hostel, where they have been confined ever since.
Time is running out for the evacuation of the tourists. Although the group is cohesive and many of its members are seasoned travelers, one of its members suffers from a heart condition and has medication only until next Monday or Tuesday, and among them is a girl under 13 years old.
In addition to the shootings, the barricades and the sight of at least two dead bodies, the presence in the building of uniformed rebels with Kalashnikovs who sometimes went to eat at the hostel’s restaurant had also caused nervousness among the group, despite the fact that there had been no threats or robberies and the treatment of the armed men was always fair.
Sanitary conditions in the hostel, with no running water and an inner courtyard with goats and chickens, were poor and had caused cases of mild diarrhea among the Spanish tourists, who were generally in good health and fed on of pasta, potatoes, rice, eggs and injera, a typical Ethiopian bread. “There are fleas in the hostel and the hygiene is very poor, we haven’t been able to shower in more than a week, but we are out of danger – pointed out De Blas -; in addition, the family that owns the establishment treats us very well. The worst thing is not knowing when we will be able to leave here”.
Noelia Bertran, the group’s guide, urged the authorities to react quickly, since if the situation takes another turn and worsens, they will not have room to react. “I hope they get us out of here soon. We can’t even leave the hotel, we’re safe for now, but the problem is that the situation can explode at any moment. If the battle returns, here we are in the middle of a crossfire and that would be dangerous. We are waiting and it is desperate”.
The national airline, Ethiopian Airlines added several inches of optimism towards a happy solution after announcing yesterday that it will resume flights to the country’s capital, Addis Ababa, from Gondar and Bahir Dar airports today, despite maintaining connections from Lalibela and Dessie are suspended.
This question is key. The group of tourists is in a small town north of Bahir Dar, just over an hour’s flight from the Ethiopian capital’s international airport, with numerous connections to Europe and the rest of the world.
If finally the evacuation could not be by plane, the option by land would involve more than 500 kilometers on roads in very bad condition and which, under normal conditions and without the controls of the current emergency situation, would already take travel several hours or even two days.
The incident, which trapped the group of Spanish tourists, along with other groups of various nationalities across the region, erupted last week after days of tensions between the local Fano militia and the Ethiopian army . Although the Amhara group, the second largest ethnic group in the country, fought alongside regular troops in the war against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front between 2020 and 2022, the relationship had broken down with the government The recent offer by the Addis Ababa Executive to dissolve the regional special forces and integrate their members into the army was understood from the rebel side as a government attempt to control and dissolve the powerful Amhara faction.
Since coming to power in 2018 in Africa’s second most populous country, with 116 million inhabitants, Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ahmed Abiy has struggled with several violent uprisings, in addition to the bloody war with the northern Tigray.
Despite this, the instability was particularly concentrated in the north and the rest of the provinces had once again received numerous tourists.
Despite the fact that the Spanish embassy in Ethiopia assured that there were warnings that the area was not safe, the director of the Kananga agency, Miquel Ribas, flatly denied it.
“Until the 4th, when they updated the situation on the web, there was no warning against visiting this region. There were warnings for the Tigre area in the north, but where everything has happened is the most touristic area in the country and the proof is that there are several other tourist groups in the region”. Ribas complains that the only recipe from the Spanish embassy has been to “wait, wait and wait”.
According to Ribas, who was holding his breath yesterday for the rescue of his clients and workers to be confirmed, they had done everything in their power to free them. “It’s not a question of money, if we could hire a plane or organize a convoy, we would have done it already, but it’s about getting everyone out safely.”
From the hotel, Inma de Blas yesterday rejected all accusations of irresponsibility directed at the group for having entered an unsafe area. “I am very indignant that it is insinuated that we are daring or unconscious. Before coming we informed ourselves and there was no official warning not to visit the area. It is not true that the embassy’s website warned of this. I think the authorities wash their hands of it and point us out. We know that the situation is complicated, but we have not done anything wrong.”
From the Foreign Office of the Generalitat, which is following the case closely, psychological help was offered yesterday to the tourists trapped in Ethiopia both during the next few days and on their expected return home.
