30 Killed as Heavy Rain Triggers Collapse of Dar-es-Salam Landfill in Conakry

Thirty people were killed in Guinea after heavy rain triggered the collapse of a huge mass of waste at the Dar-es-Salam landfill in Conakry, burying nearby homes and shelters, according to a provisional government toll.

The collapse happened overnight between Saturday and Sunday, around 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. local time, at the open-air dump in Dar-es-Salam in Conakry’s Gbessia commune. In the same statement, the government said 22 people were injured, including six seriously and 16 with lighter injuries, and stressed that the death toll remained provisional as search operations continued.

Rescue teams were deployed immediately, using excavators and other heavy equipment to search through the debris. Civil protection and emergency responders, security personnel and the Guinean Red Cross took part in the operation. The government said injured people were being treated, including at CHU Donka, a hospital in the capital, and that assistance was being arranged for affected families. Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah and senior ministers were reported at the site after the collapse.

Authorities said the rainy-season downpour destabilized the landfill heap and caused it to give way onto nearby dwellings, including homes, shacks and makeshift shelters. The disaster struck amid reported efforts to clear residents from the area. International news agencies and local media had reported that authorities recently ordered people living near the dump to leave and announced plans to close or relocate the site. “We will ensure that the remaining families are relocated elsewhere,” Djenabou Touré, Guinea’s minister of territorial administration, said, according to AP.

The collapse was not the first deadly accident at Dar-es-Salam. The landfill was also the scene of a fatal collapse in 2017, underscoring longstanding safety concerns around a dump situated close to residential areas.

Early reports after the disaster cited lower provisional death tolls, including 22 dead, before the government revised the number upward to 30. With rescuers still searching the site, officials indicated the toll could change again.