Dicing with Death: Ethiopia: At the Heart of the Furnace

In this acclaimed series, we journey on some of the world’s most dangerous routes and explore the lengths people go to in order to change their destinies.

Ethiopia is among the hardest-hit countries in terms of deadly traffic accidents. Trains and trucks circulate along infrastructure from another age. For trucks in the south of the country, the transport of goods and people take place in the rain and on slippery roads… There is, however, no alternative, as flying is too expensive and the trains are no longer in working condition, except one. This one train travels through half of the country, from the city of Dire Dawa to the border at Djibouti. It travels 310 kilometres over the course of more than 10 hours – on a good day. This last known working train is no stranger to derailments and breaks down on a regular basis. It is the oldest but also the most dangerous train in the world! From the Danakil desert to the rainy summits of the Kaffa region, welcome to Ethiopia!

Full Series