U.S. Embassy confirms death of American in Ethiopia

ESAT News (October 5, 2016)

The Embassy of the United States of America in Addis Ababa confirmed on Wednesday that an American was killed in Holeta, 26 miles west of the capital when a van she was traveling was struck by a stone thrown by unknown assailants.

The Embassy said the cause of death was head injury by a rock thrown by unknown assailants. ESAT broke the story Tuesday quoting credible hospital sources.

The agricultural expert, identified as Sharon Gray by hospital sources in Addis Ababa, was in Holeta, a town 26 miles west of the capital Addis Ababa for a field work when the van she was traveling in came under attack.

The town of Holeta is in Ethiopia’s restive Oromo region where deadly crackdowns by Ethiopian regime forces against civilians have so far claimed the lives of over a thousand people. The people of Oromo have been protesting economic and political marginalization imposed by the   the regime. Over a thousand protesters were killed since the protest began in November 2015.

ESAT’s calls to the Embassy in Addis Ababa and the U.S. State Department for more information about the deceased were not answered.