ETHIOPIA : IN THE HEART OF THE FURNACE | France 5 | Les Routes de l'Impossible

Ethiopia is the country with the world’s highest death rate from traffic accidents. Trains and trucks travel on infrastructures that date from another age. In the south, goods and people are carried in trucks in heavy rain on slippery tracks. And yet there’s no alternative because the plane is too expensive and the trains don’t really work, except for one. It crosses half the country, for the city of Dire Dawa to the border with Djibouti. It is the only link between the most remote villages. It travels 310 kilometers, taking more than 10 hours¾when everything goes well. This train, the cheapest in Ethiopia, stops at every village, like the milk train. For the last train still in operation, it’s a long series of derailments and constant breakdown. The Ethiopian train is not only the oldest in the world, it’s the most dangerous, too! From the Danakil desert to the rainy summits of the Kaffa region, welcome to Ethiopia!