CONAKRY, Aug 23 (Reuters) – A landslide at a landfill in Guinea’s capital killed 30 people, the government said on Sunday, after heavy rains overnight prompted the collapse of a massive mound of waste that engulfed nearby tents and shacks.
• The incident occurred at around 2 a.m. (0200 GMT) 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 operations were continuing at 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 per day, according to a World Bank report published in April.
• Guinea’s minister of territorial administration, Djenab Toure, announced on Thursday that the government was closing the landfill because of the danger it posed, especially during the ongoing rainy season, and said the waste was to be relocated outside Conakry.
(Reporting by Guinea newsroom; Writing by Robbie Corey-BouletEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
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