The death toll from a garbage landslide at a massive landfill in Uganda's capital, Kampala, has risen to 12, according to police on Sunday. Local media reported that homes, people, and livestock were buried under mountains of waste at the Kiteezi dump on Saturday after heavy rainfall caused a collapse.
Kampala Mayor Erias Lukwago had previously warned that the landfill was a disaster waiting to happen, citing health risks posed by the overflowing waste earlier this year. "We have so far recovered 12 bodies from the garbage heap and rescued 14 people alive," said Patrick Onyango, spokesman for Kampala's metropolitan police, to AFP. He added that the rescue operation would continue until it was certain no one remained trapped under the debris. Several animals, including a dog, were also rescued.
On Saturday, Kampala Capital City Authority, which manages the landfill, initially reported a death toll of eight, including two children. Onyango estimated that around 1,000 people had been displaced by the disaster and said that authorities were working with government agencies and community leaders to assist those affected.
A Ugandan police excavator worked through massive piles of garbage on Saturday as crowds of local residents watched, according to images from the scene. Some stood behind yellow police tape, holding pictures of their missing loved ones.
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Lukwago reiterated on Saturday that the Kiteezi landfill, a 36-acre site in a northern district of the capital, was filled to capacity. "This disaster was inevitable," he said.
In January, Lukwago, who holds the honorary title of Lord Mayor of Kampala, had raised concerns that those living and working near the Kiteezi landfill were at risk from numerous health hazards due to the excessive waste. He described the situation as a "national crisis" that required intervention from the central government and parliament.
The 36-acre landfill, established in 1996, serves as the primary dumping site for nearly all the garbage collected across Kampala, receiving about 1,500 tonnes of waste daily.
Recently, several regions in Uganda and East Africa have experienced heavy rainfall, including Ethiopia, Africa's second most populous country. Last month, devastating mudslides in a remote mountainous area of southern Ethiopia claimed around 250 lives. Similarly, in February 2010, mudslides in the Mount Elgon region of eastern Uganda resulted in more than 350 deaths.
