Death toll from landslide at Uganda waste dump reaches 21

On Sunday, the police announced that the death toll from a landslide at a vast waste dump in the capital of Uganda, Kampala, had increased to 21. Rescue workers were still searching for survivors.

The city’s sole landfill site collapsed late on Friday, crushing and submerging homes on the site’s perimeter as residents slept, following torrential rain in recent weeks.

In a statement, President Yoweri Museveni stated that he had instructed the prime minister to oversee the evacuation of all individuals residing in close proximity to the garbage landfill.

The Inspectorate of Government announced on X that the government has initiated investigations into the cause of the landslide and will take action against any officials who are found to have been remiss.

Patrick Onyango, the spokesperson for the police, stated that at least 14 individuals have been rescued thus far. He also mentioned that there is a possibility that additional individuals may still be confined, but the exact number is unknown.

The Red Cross has reported that tents have been erected in the vicinity to accommodate those who have been displaced by the landslide.

The landfill site, named Kiteezi, has been Kampala’s solitary garbage dump for decades and has since transformed into a substantial hill. Longstanding complaints have been lodged by residents regarding the environmental pollution and potential hazards that hazardous waste presents.

For years, the municipal authority has been making efforts to secure a new landfill site.

Similar disasters have occurred in other regions of Africa as a result of inadequately managed municipal garbage mountains.

In 2017, a waste landslide in Addis Ababa resulted in the deaths of at least 115 individuals. In 2018, a comparable catastrophe occurred in Maputo, Mozambique, resulting in the deaths of at least 17 individuals.