A landslide at the Dar Es Salam landfill, the largest in Guinea's capital of Conakry, killed 30 people early Sunday when a mountainous heap of refuse collapsed after heavy rains.
The disaster triggered by rains that began around 2 a.m. buried nearby shacks, and a search and rescue operation was underway. Six people were seriously injured, and several homes were destroyed.
The site, an open-air waste dump, had been slated for closure on Sunday, according to Lt. Col. Baldé Mamadou Bailo, the sanitation officer for the military engineering battalion. Locals living around the landfill had received eviction notices, prompting many to leave the area, but authorities said others remained when the disaster struck.
"We will ensure that the remaining families are relocated elsewhere,” Dienabou Touré, the minister of territorial administration and decentralization, stated at the scene.
Guinea is rich in mineral deposits, including bauxite, iron ore, gold, and diamonds. However, nearly half of the population lives below the national poverty line, according to the World Bank.