At least 12 people are confirmed dead after a landslide at a massive rubbish
dump in the Ugandan capital, Kampala.
Rescuers are continuing to dig through the waste in the hope of finding more
survivors after the landslide, which followed weeks of torrential rain and 36-acre
Kiteezi landfill is the only one serving the whole of Kampala, a city home to an
estimated four million people.
Kampala Mayor Erias Lukwago said it was "a disaster that was bound to happen"
while, the city authorities have reportedly been trying to find a new site for many
years.
A huge hill formed by the build-up of rubbish collapsed late on Friday night,
burying houses on the edge of the site while residents were asleep, reports the
Reuters news agency, while, on Saturday, the death toll was given as eight,
including two children.
Kampala police spokesman Patrick Onyango on Sunday said, four more bodies
had been retrieved, while 14 people had been rescued.
Onyango said, some 1,000 people had been forced to leave their homes
because of the landslide and did not specify how many had been living on the
site, or whether they were living nearby, adding that, many people earn their living
by trawling through the piles of rubbish looking for anything that can be resold,
while, the Uganda Red Cross has been providing tents to those in need of
temporary shelter.
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