Landfill Collapse in Guinea’s Capital Kills 30 After Heavy Rain

At least 30 people died when a towering heap of rubbish collapsed onto homes and tents in Guinea’s capital Conakry early Sunday, the government said.

Heavy overnight rain triggered the landslide at the Dar-es-Salam landfill in the Gbessia district around 2 a.m. The open-air dump, the city’s largest, sent waste crashing over nearby shacks where many families still lived despite recent eviction notices.

Six people were seriously injured and others suffered lighter injuries. Rescue workers using excavators searched the debris for survivors as Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah visited the site to oversee operations.

Authorities had announced plans only days earlier to close the landfill and relocate the waste outside the city because of the danger it posed during the rainy season. One resident told reporters she lost five children in the disaster.

Similar collapses have occurred at the site before, including one that killed 10 people in 2017. The latest tragedy highlights the risks of informal settlements around large waste dumps in West African cities during heavy rains.