CONAKRY, 24 August. - (ANA) - A ⁠landslide at a huge waste dump in Guinea’s capital has killed 30 people, the government said on Sunday, after heavy rains overnight prompted it to ⁠collapse, engulfing nearby tents and shacks.

 

The incident occurred less than a week after the government announced plans to close the ⁠site and relocate the waste because of the threat it posed, especially during the rainy season, which causes landslides and fatal flash ⁠floods each year in crowded, underdeveloped cities across parts of West Africa.

 

The landslide took ​place at about 2am (3am UK time) ‌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 workers were using excavators and other tools to clear the site of the landslide, which witnesses said was large enough to bury an apartment building along with more precarious dwellings.

 

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 a day, according to a ⁠World Bank report published in April. - (ANA) -

 

AB/ANA/24 August 2026 - - -