Authorities reported the discovery of six additional bodies, including two children, on Wednesday at the scene of a large garbage landslide in Kampala, Uganda. This brings the total death toll to 30 individuals, as per the police.
Many people remain missing following the collapse at the landfill in the Kiteezi district on Saturday that engulfed individuals, residences, and animals under piles of waste.
“Today, the team retrieved six dead bodies by 1730 hours (1430 GMT). This makes a total of 30 bodies so far recovered,” the Uganda Police Force shared on X, previously known as Twitter.
The victims identified include a three-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl, according to a list released by the police.
Earlier, the Kampala metropolitan police spokesman Patrick Onyango had stated a death toll of 26 and mentioned that 39 individuals were still missing – comprising of 35 local residents and four waste collectors.
Heavy machinery continues to sift through the vast piles of garbage as the search operation for survivors persists in Kiteezi, often amidst heavy rainfall.
The Uganda police reported that 120 people sought refuge in a nearby school, while it is estimated that 33 homes were affected by the landslide triggered by the intense rains in the area.
– ‘Dangerous Dump’ –
The incident has been termed a “national disaster” by Kampala city mayor Erias Lukwago, who had cautioned over the weekend that “many, many more could still be buried under the heap.”
Prior warnings had been raised concerning the risks of overflow from the site, which has been operational since 1996 and receives waste from across Kampala.
President Yoweri Museveni announced on Sunday that he had enlisted the special forces of the army to assist in the search and rescue effort and questioned the reasoning behind allowing individuals to reside near such a “possibly hazardous and risky dump.”
In a statement released on X, Museveni detailed that he had instructed compensation of five million Ugandan shillings ($1,300) for the families of each deceased victim and one million shillings ($270) for every injured person.
However, community members at the location have expressed frustration towards the authorities, alleging that they were aware of the dangers posed by the site but took minimal action.
Local community leader Abubaker Semuwemba Lwanyaga informed AFP on Monday that officials should “admit to their error and take responsibility.”
“If the government planned to establish a landfill here, they should have relocated the residents and provided compensation, instead of waiting for a disaster to occur,” he remarked.
Several regions in Uganda and other parts of East Africa have faced severe rainfall recently, with Ethiopia – the continent’s second most populous country, also affected.
Last month, devastating landslides in a remote mountainous region of southern Ethiopia claimed the lives of approximately 250 individuals.
In a similar incident in February 2010, mudslides in Uganda’s Mount Elgon area led to the tragic deaths of over 350 people.
AFP.