Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
At least 22 people were killed after a huge mound of garbage collapsed at a landfill in Guinea’s capital, Conakry, following heavy overnight rain, officials said on Sunday.
According to the Associated Press, the disaster struck at the Dar Es Salam landfill at around 3 AM (local time). Torrential rain caused part of the towering pile of refuse to give way, sending debris down onto nearby shacks and burying people living around the site.
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A search and rescue operation was under way as emergency teams looked for survivors trapped beneath the debris. The death toll was described as provisional. The tragedy came on the same day authorities had planned to close the landfill. Residents living near the site had previously received eviction notices and some had already left the area. However, many people remained in the vicinity when the rubbish heap collapsed. Lieutenant Colonel Balde Mamadou Bailo, sanitation officer for the military engineering battalion, said the site had been designated for closure on Sunday.
Dienabou Toure, the minister of territorial administration and decentralisation, said authorities would move the remaining families to safer locations.
“We will ensure that the remaining families are relocated elsewhere,” she told the Associated Press.
The Dar Es Salam landfill has long faced concerns over the safety of people living nearby. Guinea’s government had been working towards relocating and closing the site, which has been described as a major environmental and public safety problem.
REPEATED LANDSLIDE RISK
The latest disaster also revives memories of earlier deadly landslides in Guinea.
In August 2025, a landslide triggered by heavy rain buried homes in the Maneah area of Coyah prefecture, about 50 kilometres from Conakry. At least 11 people were killed and 10 others seriously injured.
Dar Es Salam itself has suffered a deadly collapse before. In 2017, a mound of rubbish gave way at the landfill, burying nearby homes and killing several people.
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With inputs from agencies
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
