Kampala, Aug 16—The number of people killed when a mountain of garbage collapsed Kiteezi landfill in Kampala last week has risen to 35, 12 of whom were young people.
Police said on Friday August 16 that about 30 others are still missing suspected to be buried under the garbage.
Rescue operation by the Police, army, Redcross and local people is still going on though being interrupted by torrential rain.
The accident occurred late last Friday, when a large chunk broke off the mound of trash at the Kiteezi landfill on the northern outskirts of Kampala. Dozens of homes near the dump were buried while residents slept.
Nine more bodies have been retrieved since Wednesday, when 26 were reported dead.
Police said in a statement on the tragedy that it had been hard to identify some of the new bodies as they were in such bad shape.
The landslide followed torrential rains that have battered parts of the East African country in recent weeks, triggering extensive flooding and damage.
Residents near the landfill, which has for decades served as Kampala’s only waste dump, have long complained of hazardous waste polluting the environment and posing a danger.
Similar tragedies elsewhere in Africa from poorly managed mountains of municipal trash include a 2017 incident in Ethiopia in which at least 115 people were killed.
The situation at Kiteezi remain critical as authorities work to manage both the on going rescue operation efforts and the humanitarian crisis unfolding at the red cross makeshift tent.
The number seeking help at the makeshift shelter has increased from 150 to about 200 including over 50 children, 85 women 7 of whom are heavily pregnant and the rest are men.
The government meanwhile is planning to take over the site and the neighbouring areas and develop it into a modern garbage collection centre.
Prime Minister Robina Nabbanja told Parliament on Thursday that government was planning evacuate families around the landfill and take them to Ddundu, about 20 miles on Gayaza-Kalagi road, in Mukono district, where KCCA had acquired land to transfer the garbage landfill.
KCCA authorities are currently in a dilemma as they have failed to get a place where to temporarily damp the garbage collected from the city. KCCA collects and damps 1,500tons of garbage daily from the five divisions of the city.
All authorities in neighbouring local governments of Entebbe, Kira, Mpigi and Mukono backed by residents, have vehemently declined to offer KCCA permission for a temporary damping of garbage in their locations. They express fears of unhygienic conditions that might erupt thereafter.
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