Bizuayhu Birhanu, 37, a senior camera operator with the state‑owned Ethiopian News Agency (ENA), was killed on June 15, 2025. ENA reported that Bizuayhu died from “injuries sustained in a sudden on‑duty accident,” without specifying where or how the accident happened.
However, other news reports indicated that he died in a helicopter crash near Debresina Monastery in West Dembiya, Central Gondar Zone, in Ethiopia’s Amhara Regional State. The region has been embroiled in a conflict since April 2023, as local Fano militia members fight federal forces over greater regional autonomy.
In an interview with the Fano militia-affiliated Tana Television, Kirubel Gobe, spokesperson for the Amhara Fano Popular Organization's Gondar Division, said the militia had possessed prior information about the flight and shot down the helicopter at 6:50 p.m. on June 15 with a rocket-propelled grenade. Kirubel said several high-ranking government and military officials aboard were killed. He did not name Bizuayhu as one of the casualties.
Bizuayhu had worked for ENA since November 2015, rising from assistant camera operator to senior cameraperson, according to his obituary. A number of senior officials, including cabinet ministers, ambassadors, and representatives of the prime minister’s office, attended Bizuayhu’s June 17 funeral.
CPJ has not been able to independently confirm the circumstances of the journalist’s death.
In July 2025, CPJ emailed Ethiopia’s Government Communication Service and the Ethiopian National Defense Forces for comment on the crash and on Bizuayhu’s death but received no reply.