Photos: Towering landfill collapse kills 30 in Guinea’s capital, Conakry

What the report says

At least 30 people were killed and six were injured when a large landfill collapsed in Conakry, Guinea’s capital, after heavy overnight rain, according to Al Jazeera’s report based on AFP, AP and Reuters. The disaster struck around 2am on Sunday at the Dar es Salam open-air dump, sending rubbish, mud and debris onto nearby shacks in the Gbessia area.

Rescue crews searched through the wreckage at daybreak using excavators, shovels and hand digging to look for survivors and recover bodies. Several homes were reported destroyed, and officials said some families living near the dump had received eviction notices before the collapse. Territorial Administration Minister Dienabou Toure, who visited the scene, said remaining residents would be relocated.

The landfill was described as the main waste site for Conakry, a city of about two million people, and it had been scheduled for closure on the same day as the collapse. Al Jazeera also noted that the incident came less than a week after authorities declared the dump unsafe and announced plans to move it outside the capital. In broader context, Guinea is rich in mineral resources but remains among West Africa’s poorest countries, and rapid urban growth has pushed vulnerable families to settle near hazardous sites such as this landfill.