Background: Intensive care unit (ICU) is a special unit of a hospital that provides intensivetreatment for patients with severe life-threatening illnesses which require uninterrupted care andrnclose monitoring with life support equipment. The mortality rate is still very high in most ICUsrnespecially in the developing countries due to late presentation of patients, unavailability of welltrainedrnstaffrnrnand lack of life support equipment. This study tried to identify the causes and circumstancesrnofrnthe deathrnofrncriticallyrnillrnpatients.rnrnObjectivesrn:rnTornidentifyrncausesrnandrncircumstancernofrndeathsrnofrnpatientsrnadmittedrntornthernadultrnintensiverncarernunitrn(ICU)rnatrnTiruneshrnBeijingrnHospitalrnpublicrnhospital,rnAddisrnAbaba,rn2021.rnrnMethods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted. All patient charts who werernadmitted and died in adult ICU from Sept 2018 to August 2020 and met the criteria were included.rnDatarnwasrncollectedrnbyrnusingrnstructuredrnandrnpretestedrnchecklists.rnSPSSrnversionrn25rnsoftwarernwas used for datarnentryrnand analysis.rnrnrnResult: A total of 193 death cards were reviewed, of which 116(60.1%) were males and 77(39.9%) were females. Common deaths 91(47.2%) occurred in the age group20-40yrs with meanstandard deviation of 43.92Â±17.26 years. Stroke is the leading cause of death accounting for 27(14%) of total death followed by Retroviral infection (13.5%).The mortality of patients admittedrnin MICU was 39% and 52.8% of the deaths took place in the first 72 hours of admission to theintensive care unit. rnConclusion: The total mortality was considerably high and it is affecting the young agerngroups. Majority of the patients are dying in the first 72 hours, indicating that most patientsrnare visiting the intensive care unit in the late stages of their illnesses. Further study is requiredrnfor better understanding of the existing situation