The death toll from a devastating landslide at a large garbage dump in Kampala, Uganda’s capital, has climbed to 13, according to police on Sunday. Rescue teams are continuing their efforts to find survivors after a massive chunk of the city’s only landfill site collapsed late Friday, burying homes as residents slept.
Heavy rains in recent weeks led to the landslide at the Kiteezi landfill, which has long been a source of concern for local residents due to hazardous waste and environmental pollution. The landfill, serving as Kampala’s primary garbage dump for decades, had grown into a towering hill of waste.
Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango confirmed that 13 bodies have been recovered so far, with at least 14 people rescued from the rubble. However, the total number of people still trapped remains unknown.
Tents have been set up nearby by the Uganda Red Cross to shelter those displaced by the disaster. The Kampala Capital City Authority initially reported eight fatalities on Saturday, but the death toll has since increased as rescue operations continue.
This tragic incident highlights ongoing challenges in waste management across Africa, where poorly managed garbage sites have led to similar disasters. In 2017, a landslide at a garbage dump in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killed at least 115 people, and in 2018, 17 people died in a similar disaster in Maputo, Mozambique.
Local authorities in Kampala have been trying to secure a new landfill site for years, but progress has been slow. Meanwhile, the Kiteezi landfill continues to pose significant risks to nearby residents. Among the dead are children, and the rescue operation remains active as efforts to recover more bodies and find any remaining survivors continue.
