Tragic Landfill Collapse in Conakry Claims at Least 30 Lives

Residents and rescue workers used an excavator to search for bodies after a landslide struck the Dar-es-Salaam dumpsite in Conakry. A mountainous heap of refuse collapsed at the largest landfill in Guinea’s capital, Conakry, killing at least 30 people, according to a government statement.

Six others were also seriously injured after heavy rains in the Bbessia district’s Dar-es-salam neighbourhood triggered a landslide at the landfill around 3 am on Sunday, which buried nearby shacks. The site was designated for closure on Sunday, according to Lieutenant Colonel Balde Mamadou Bailo, sanitation officer for the Military Engineering Battalion.

Lancine Sylla, the head of the Dar-es-Salaam suburb, where the incident occurred, said he feared a high death toll. "We have pulled out 18 bodies that were taken to the morgue," he told the AFP news agency. Guinea’s minister for territorial administration, Djenabou Toure, went to the site and said she was waiting for the search and rescue operation to finish to give an official casualty figure.

The government recently had ordered the expulsion of people near the landfill and safety measures around the site because of a fear of collapses. This is a developing story, and more information will be provided as it becomes available.