Elias Villabarema
KAMPALA (Reuters) – The death toll from a landslide at a large garbage dump in the Ugandan capital Kampala has risen to 17, Red Cross officials said on Sunday, as rescuers continued to dig for survivors.
After heavy rains in recent weeks, a huge pile of trash at the city’s only landfill collapsed late Friday, crushing and burying homes on the edge of the landfill as residents slept.
Four more bodies were recovered on Sunday, bringing the total to 17, said Irene Nakasita, a spokesperson for the Uganda Red Cross.
Earlier on Sunday, police spokesman Patrick Onyango put the death toll at 13, while authorities in Kampala capital on Saturday reported eight.
President Yoweri Museveni said in a statement that he had directed the prime minister to coordinate efforts to clear all residents near the dump.
The Government Inspectorate said on the 10th that the government had begun investigating the cause of the landslide and would take action against any officials found to have neglected their duties.
At least 14 people have been rescued so far, Onyango said, adding that more people may be trapped, but the exact number is unknown.
The Red Cross said tents had been set up nearby for people displaced by the landslide.
The landfill, known as Kiteezi, was Kampala’s only garbage dump for decades and has now grown into a massive mountain. Residents have long complained that hazardous waste pollutes the environment and poses a danger to residents.
The city’s efforts to find a new landfill have dragged on for years.
Similar tragedies occur elsewhere in Africa due to poorly managed and piling up of urban waste.
In 2017, a garbage landslide killed at least 115 people in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In Mozambique, at least 17 people died in a similar disaster in Maputo in 2018.
