At least 30 people were killed when a landslide at a landfill in Conakry, Guinea, buried homes and scavengers under a mountain of waste, the country's civil protection service said on Tuesday. The collapse occurred at the Dar Es Salam landfill, the largest in the capital, after heavy rain saturated the refuse heap.
The landslide struck around 5 a.m. local time when many residents were still asleep. The refuse heap, which rises more than 30 meters above the surrounding neighborhood, collapsed without warning, sending a wave of mud, plastic, and household waste into a cluster of informal homes and recycling yards.
Rescue and recovery
Lieutenant Colonel Mamadou Diallo, a spokesperson for Guinea's civil protection service, said rescue teams had recovered 30 bodies by late afternoon. "The toll is likely to rise as we clear the debris," Diallo said. "We are working with excavators and hand tools to reach those trapped."
Witnesses described a sudden roar as the pile of garbage gave way. "It was like a river of trash," said Fatoumata Camara, a resident who lost two relatives. "People were running, but the waste moved faster." Camara said she heard screams from beneath the rubble for hours after the collapse.
Rescue workers, including soldiers and volunteers, were using shovels and bare hands to dig through the compacted waste. Heavy machinery was brought in later in the day, but progress was slow because the debris was unstable and threatened to shift again.
Heavy rain and unstable waste
Guinea's meteorological agency recorded more than 120 millimeters of rain in Conakry over the past 48 hours, saturating the landfill. The civil protection service said the landslide at the landfill was triggered by the downpour, which destabilized the steep slopes of refuse. Similar incidents have occurred at Dar Es Salam in previous years, but officials said this was the deadliest.
The landfill has been a source of concern for years. Environmental groups have warned that the site, which receives most of Conakry's household waste, is unstable and unsafe for the thousands of people who depend on it for recycling. A 2017 report by the United Nations Environment Programme noted that the landfill lacked proper drainage and waste compaction, making it vulnerable to collapse during heavy rains.
Government response
Guinea's government declared a disaster zone around the landfill and deployed military engineers to assist in the search. Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah visited the site on Tuesday and promised support for the victims' families. "This is a tragedy for the entire nation," Bah said in a statement. "We will do everything possible to rescue survivors and prevent further loss of life."
The government has also ordered an investigation into the collapse and said it would relocate residents living near the landfill. However, local activists have criticized the response as too slow. "People have been living in fear for years," said Ibrahima Sory Diallo, a community organizer in Conakry. "The authorities knew the landfill was dangerous, but they did nothing until this disaster."
Broader context
The landslide at a landfill in Conakry is the latest in a series of deadly waste-related accidents in West Africa. In 2020, a similar collapse at a landfill in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, killed at least 28 people. Experts say rapid urbanization and poor waste management are creating increasingly hazardous conditions in many cities.
In Conakry, the Dar Es Salam landfill has been operating for decades without significant upgrades. The site is estimated to hold millions of tons of waste, and its height has grown steadily as the city's population has expanded. Heavy rains, which are becoming more frequent due to climate change, are expected to increase the risk of further landslides.
The civil protection service said rescue operations would continue through the night. "We are doing everything we can to find survivors," Lieutenant Colonel Diallo said. "But the conditions are difficult. The waste is deep and unstable."
As of Tuesday evening, at least 15 people were reported injured and taken to local hospitals. The full scale of the disaster remains unclear, with many families still searching for missing relatives.
