Uganda landfill collapse kills 24 as people buried by rubbish
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At least 24 people have now died after a mountain of rubbish collapsed in Uganda.
Rescuers continue to dig through the rubble in the capital, Kampala, days after disaster struck at the Kiteezi landfill on Friday.
At least four children are among the dead, police said.
The Kiteezi landfill is a vast rubbish dumpsite in an impoverished hillside area that receives hundreds of waste disposal trucks a day – despite being declared “full” years ago.
It has been described as a sort of no-man’s land, frequented by women and children who scavenge plastic waste they aim to sell.
Workers search for survivors at the site of the collapsed landfill. Pic: AP
The collapse is believed to have been triggered by heavy rainfall but precise details of what happened are unclear.
Kampala’s city authority said there was a “structural failure in waste mass”.
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Irene Nakasiita, a spokesperson for the Uganda Red Cross, said there was no hope of rescuing more people alive.
It was not clear how many people were unaccounted for.
Uganda’s president ordered an investigation into the disaster. Pic: AP
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Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ordered an investigation into the disaster, asking why people were living in close proximity to an unstable heap of rubbish.
“Who allowed people to live near such a potentially hazardous and dangerous heap?” he asked, adding that waste from the site is hazardous enough that people should not be living there.
