Thirty people perished yesterday in Guinea’s capital, Conakry, when a pile of debris collapsed in a landfill before daybreak on nearby houses after heavy rains, the authorities reported.
Six other people were critically injured in the incident, which happened at 2:00 am (0200 GMT) in the Dar-es-salam suburb of the Bbesia district on the outskirts of the city, a government statement said.
The government noted that “important material and human resources have been mobilised to search for any people that may still be buried, to rescue the victims and to recover the bodies.”
Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah visited the site of the terrible catastrophe where excavators joined a search-and-rescue operation under the rubble of the collapsed landfill, while a mob of bystanders watched, AFP said.
The government statement stated steps had been made “to provide medical care for the wounded” and “assistance for those affected by this tragedy”.
Neighbourhood leader Lancine Sylla had thought many had killed in the fall before the official toll was announced.
“We have recovered 18 bodies that were taken to the mortuary,” he told our correspondent.
Cellou Dalein Diallo, a leading opposition member in Guinea and in exile overseas, called the disaster “a tragedy that plunges us into dismay”.
“This tragedy is all the more alarming because the closure of the dump was announced for this Sunday, Aug. 23,” he remarked on Facebook.
“Now the competent authorities will have to establish, with all transparency, the circumstances that led to this disaster and draw all the necessary conclusions,” he continued in the statement made before the death toll was released.
The authorities had just ordered the evacuation of locals around the site for fear of a collapse.
Guinea is ruled by General Mamadi Doumbouya, the coup leader who was elected president in December, 2025.
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