One student has died and several others wounded in ethnic clashes over the weekend at Hawassa University in southern Ethiopia, increasing the death toll since campus skirmishes began last October to 12.
Speaking to journalists on Sunday, the head of the university’s president office Ayele Adato said a student who had been majoring in the Natural Sciences was killed in main the campus amid clashes between students belonging to different ethnicities.
The body of the student was sent back to Hospital in Addis Ababa.
The conflict was caused after a dispute flared up between two students, Ayele said, adding that the universities along with the police are investigating the source of the fued.
He said the federal police have so far apprehended 44 people who were allegedly involved in the killing and maiming of the students.
Ayele did not mention the victim by name and the number of students injured.
Clashes have continued even though members of the Hawassa university community feel sad over the death of the student, he said.
Ethnic-based clashes on university campuses continue to claim lives of students even though the country’s Ministry of Science and Higher Learning Institutions has taken different measures including the firing and suspension of students, administrative staff and instructors.
MG/as/APA