At least 30 people were killed when a landslide struck Guinea's largest landfill in Conakry early Sunday, according to a Guinean government statement. The collapse at the Dar Es Salam dump, in the Gbessia district, occurred between 2:00 and 3:00 AM local time after heavy overnight rains destabilized the waste mound.
Six people were seriously injured, the government confirmed. Between 16 and 22 additional people sustained minor injuries, according to varying government-cited figures. The injured were transported to Donka University Hospital in Conakry. The refuse buried tents, shacks, and informal dwellings occupied by waste-pickers and low-income residents near the site.
Closure had been ordered for the day of the collapse
Guinea's Minister of Territorial Administration, Djénabou Touré Camara, announced on Thursday, August 20, that the government was closing Dar Es Salam because it was unsafe, and stated waste would be relocated outside Conakry. Lt. Col. Baldé Mamadou Bailo, sanitation officer for the Military Engineering Battalion, confirmed the site had been designated for closure on Sunday, August 23 — the same day the landslide occurred. Local authorities had issued eviction notices to nearby residents citing long-standing safety concerns tied to the rainy season. Many residents left the area; others remained.
Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah visited the disaster zone Sunday to oversee the emergency response, according to the government statement. Armed forces, civil protection services, the Red Cross, and medical teams deployed what officials called "significant material and human resources." Excavators remained on site as search operations continued.
Cire Diallo, a woman at the scene, told reporters all five of her children were killed. "I have lost all my children. All I can do is put my trust in God," she said. Neighbourhood leader Lancine Sylla told AFP: "We have pulled out 18 bodies that were taken to the morgue." He said he feared a heavy death toll.
Observers are reading: Why the three-day gap between the closure order and the collapse is now under scrutiny.
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Regional rainy-season pattern
The Conakry collapse follows a regional pattern of landfill and disposal-site disasters tied to heavy rainfall, including a March landslide at Indonesia's Bantargebang landfill and repeated deadly landslides at extraction sites in eastern Congo during the same season. Guinea's rainy season has also produced flood-related disruption across the wider region. Search crews in Conakry continue digging through the debris field as the confirmed toll of 30 stands, with government officials warning it may rise.
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