CONAKRY, Guinea — A mountainous heap of refuse collapsed at the largest landfill in Guinea’s capital, Conakry, early Sunday killing at least 22 people, according to a provisional toll by the country’s civil protection service.
Heavy rains, which started around 3 a.m., washed over the refuse at Dar Es Salam, triggering a landslide that buried nearby shacks. A search and rescue operation was underway to find survivors.
The site had been designated for closure Sunday, according to Lt. Col. Baldé Mamadou Bailo, the sanitation officer for the military engineering battalion.
Locals living around the landfill had been given eviction notices, but many were still around at the time of the disaster, according to authorities.
“We will ensure that the remaining families are relocated elsewhere,” Dienabou Touré, the minister of territorial administration and decentralization, said at the scene.
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