At least 31 people have been killed and 22 others injured after a huge pile of rubbish collapsed onto homes in Guinea’s capital, Conakry, following heavy overnight rain. Six of those injured are in serious condition, while rescue teams continue searching through the waste for people who may still be trapped.
The collapse happened at about 02:00 local time in the Dar-es-Salam area, where a major waste site gave way and sent tonnes of rubbish towards nearby homes. The government said resources and personnel, including the military, had been sent to the area to help with the search and rescue operation.
There are fears the number of deaths could rise as rescuers continue to clear the site. A woman told local media that all five of her children died in the disaster.
Rescuers were later seen using excavators to search through a large mound of scattered rubbish as residents gathered around the site, waiting for news of relatives and neighbours.
An eyewitness said several people were buried after a second part of the waste site collapsed.
“People tried to come to the rescue [after the first section collapsed]… They came running and climbed onto the refuse to see if anyone was there,” Robert Kamano Sâa told the Associated Press.
“"That was when the second section collapsed in three successive stages, cascading down. And that is what poured onto the people."”
Guinea's Prime Minister Mamadou Oury Bah visited the scene to assess the situation and oversee the rescue efforts.
Mamadouba Bangoura, whose house was destroyed, said he and his family were woken by the “loud noise” caused by the first wave of rubbish, which initially did not reach their home.
“[Then] the second wave came. That is what knocked over - pushed the house - and it fell,” he told Reuters news agency.
“There were a lot of people [buried]… It is very, very difficult to talk about it because seeing a human being lose their life like that is pathetic, it is so painful.”
The scale of the disaster had earlier been highlighted by neighbourhood leader Lancine Sylla, who warned that many people could have been trapped beneath the rubbish.
“We have pulled out 18 bodies that were taken to the morgue,” he said.
Health Minister Khaïté Sall visited injured victims in hospital and said those affected would receive free medical care. He also assured families that the government would support them following the disaster.
The latest incident is not the first deadly collapse at the same site. In 2017, 10 people were killed in a similar tragedy.
The government had recently ordered residents living near the landfill to move away from the area. However, many people remained in their homes.
Opposition figure and former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, who is living in exile abroad, described the incident as “a tragedy that plunges us into dismay”.
“This tragedy is all the more worrying because the closure of the landfill had been announced for this Sunday, 23 August”, he said.
Rescue teams remain at the site as they search through the waste for more people who could be trapped underneath. Authorities have not ruled out the possibility that the death toll could increase as the operation continues.