A trash heap collapse in Kampala, Uganda, killed at least 24 people as rescuers continue to comb the site Monday, a city authority said, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
Police told reporters that at least four children were found among the dead from the Kiteezi landfill collapse, according to the outlet.
A man collects garbage at a landfill a few hours after its collapse in Kampala on August 10, 2024. Eight people including two children were killed when mountains of garbage collapsed at a landfill in the Ugandan capital Kampala on August 10, the city authority said. (Photo by BADRU KATUMBA/AFP via Getty Images)
Authorities believe that the “structural failure in waste mass” was caused by heavy rains, The AP reported.
The New Vision, a Ugandan news outlet, tweeted a photo of the accident site and rescue efforts. (RELATED: REPORT: Employee At Popular Fast-Food Chain Allegedly Kills His Manager, Takes Body Out To Trash)
17 bodies have so far been recovered including children from the rubble after the Kiteezi landfill collapse.
DETAILS | #VisionUpdates 👇📷 https://t.co/o2Mks6v1Sj pic.twitter.com/MCL1mBo7q7
— The New Vision (@newvisionwire) August 11, 2024
Irene Nakasiita, a spokeswoman for the Uganda Red Cross, told the AP that there is no hope of rescuing any more people alive from the rubbish heap. People built homes near the trash heap and many were attracted to the site to scavenge the waste for something to sell, the outlet reported.
Men fight for a metallic door from the debris of a house hit by a landfill collapse in Kampala on August 10, 2024. Eight people including two children were killed when mountains of garbage collapsed at a landfill in the Ugandan capital Kampala on August 10, the city authority said. (Photo by BADRU KATUMBA/AFP via Getty Images)
Ugandan political leaders have acknowledged the tragedy. President Yoweri Museveni has ordered an investigation into the incident.
“The first question that comes to mind is: ‘Who allowed People to live near such a potentially hazardous and dangerous heap?’ Even without peeling off and burying People, the effluent alone (ejyurigyiriro) must be hazardous to health,” Museveni wrote while expressing his condolences to the families of the victims.
Fellow Ugandans, especially the Bazzukulu,
Greetings.
This is to convey condolences to the families of the People who died yesterday as a consequence of part of the rubbish heap at Kiteezi (orubuungo), peeling off (kubeguka) and burying People who were living nearby.The first…
— Yoweri K Museveni (@KagutaMuseveni) August 11, 2024
Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja’s office tweeted that the government along with the Ugandan Red Cross “started the distribution of food to displaced residents of Lusanja and Kitetika villages affected by the Saturday garbage slide.”
@LillianAber,with the SG of the @UgandaRedCross, @robert_kwesiga,today started the distribution of food to displaced residents of Lusanja and Kitetika villages affected by the Saturday garbage slide. @GovUganda,@KCCAUG, @CHRISBARYOMUNS1 pic.twitter.com/A18SMcKFd8
— Office of the Prime Minister – Uganda (@OPMUganda) August 12, 2024
People look on as an excavator helps search for people trapped under debris after a landfill collapsed in Kampala on August 10, 2024. Eight people including two children were killed when a landfill in the Ugandan capital Kampala collapsed, the city authority said. (Photo by BADRU KATUMBA/AFP via Getty Images)
City authorities have tried to decommission the vast Kiteezi landfill for years, the AP reported. The landfill receives hundreds of garbage trucks daily, the outlet noted.
