A landslide at a huge waste dump in Guinea’s capital, Conakry, killed 30 people after heavy overnight rain caused the site to collapse, the government said on Sunday. The debris engulfed nearby tents and shacks in the Gbessia commune at about 2am local time.
Six people were seriously injured and 16 others suffered light injuries, according to the government statement. Rescue workers were using excavators and other tools to clear the landslide, which witnesses said was large enough to bury an apartment building as well as more precarious dwellings.
Rescue operation follows overnight collapse
Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah visited the landfill on Sunday to assess the damage and supervise the response. The government urged people to remain calm, show solidarity and follow instructions from rescue services and other competent authorities.
Cire Diallo, a woman who spoke to reporters at the scene, said her five children had been killed. Rescue workers continued clearing the site as authorities dealt with the casualties and debris.
The landfill had been marked for closure
The collapse came less than a week after Territorial Administration Minister Djénabou Touré Camara announced that the government would close the landfill because it was unsafe. She said the waste would be relocated outside Conakry.
The government had identified the site as especially dangerous during the rainy season, when landslides and fatal flash floods affect crowded, underdeveloped cities across parts of West Africa.
A disaster in a country facing infrastructure pressures
Guinea has poor infrastructure and widespread poverty despite holding the world’s largest bauxite reserves and the richest untapped iron ore deposit at Simandou. A World Bank report published in April said 3.7 million of Guinea’s 15.1 million people live on less than $4.20 a day.
The Simandou mining project was launched in November, while the landfill’s planned closure and relocation had yet to prevent the collapse described by the government.
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