[3][4] A camp of civilian workers for the logistics company Gondrand, engaged at the time in road construction, was attacked at dawn by Ethiopian soldiers under the orders of Ras Imru.

[3] The construction yard was equipped with about 15 muskets, and the workers also used their work tools as defense weapons, but they were overwhelmed by the surprise attack of the Ethiopians.

[5] The massacre took place around the same time as the Battle of Amba Aradam, fought from 10 to 19 February 1936, about 200 kilometres (120 mi) south of Mai Lahlà.

[6] Of the 130 workers present,[7] 68 Italians were killed, and the bodies of 17 of them were castrated in contravention of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie's explicit order not to mutilate enemy corpses, while 27 others were wounded and four went missing.

[3] In response to photographic evidence that some Ethiopian troops had ignored the order against mutilating corpses, Ethiopia's Foreign Minister was forced to admit that it had happened, but argued that it should be seen as an act of protest against Italian atrocities.