Landslide at waste dump in Guinea's capital kills 30

A landslide at a huge waste dump in Guinea’s capital has killed 30 people, the government said on Sunday, after heavy rains overnight prompted it to collapse, engulfing nearby tents and shacks.

The incident occurred less than a week after the government announced plans to close the site and relocate the waste because of the threat it posed, especially during the rainy season, which causes landslides and fatal flash floods each year in crowded, underdeveloped cities across parts of West Africa.

The landslide took place at about 2am (3am UK time) in the Gbessia commune of Conakry, according to a government statement.

The death toll was 30, with six people seriously injured and 16 more lightly injured, the statement said.

Rescue workers were using excavators and other tools to clear the site of the landslide, which witnesses said was large enough to bury an apartment building along with more precarious dwellings.

One woman, Cire Diallo, told reporters at the scene that her five children were killed. “I have lost all my children. All I can do is put my trust in God,” she said.

Guinea holds the world’s largest bauxite reserves and richest untapped iron ore deposit at Simandou, where a massive mining project was launched in November. But the west African country has poor infrastructure and widespread poverty, with 3.7 million of its 15.1 million people living on less than $4.20 a day, according to a World Bank report published in April.

On Thursday Guinea’s minister of territorial administration, Djénabou Touré Camara, announced that the government was closing the landfill because it was unsafe and said the waste was to be relocated outside Conakry.

The prime minister, Amadou Oury Bah, visited the landfill on Sunday to assess the damage and supervise the response, the government statement said, adding that people should “remain calm, show solidarity, and strictly follow the instructions of rescue services and the competent authorities”.