(Bloomberg) -- At least 80 people died during protests in Ethiopia's Oromia region after the fatal shooting of a popular singer.
Those killed included protesters and members of the security forces, the state-controlled Ethiopian Broadcasting Corp. reported, citing the Oromia Police Commissioner, Ararsa Merdasa. Some business premises were also damaged.
Protests erupted in the capital, Addis Ababa, and other parts of the country after musician Haacaalu Hundeessa died on Monday in an attack by unidentified gunmen. The singer and songwriter was a popular voice during protests by the Oromo, Ethiopia's biggest ethnic group, for reforms in the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front that led to the appointment of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in 2018.
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Abiy called for national unity, and said “no one is above the law,” in a statement read on the national broadcaster.
The authorities shut down the internet in the country on Tuesday to curb the protests from spreading.
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