The death toll from a landslide in Uganda’s capital Kampala is rising. While eight people were killed on Saturday, the toll rose to 21 on Sunday. Search and rescue operations are being hampered by heavy rains.
The incident occurred on Friday night local time in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. As a result of heavy rains, a huge garbage dump collapsed, burying several nearby houses along with the people and animals inside them.
In the first statement, published on Saturday, local authorities reported eight deaths. On Sunday morning this number increased to 13and in the afternoon, Uganda Red Cross spokeswoman Nakasiita said at least 21 people lost their lives. He is among the dead at least two children.
Emergency services have managed to save 14 people so far. Unfortunately, search and rescue operations are hampered by heavy rains, which is why the death toll could rise further.
The aforementioned Irene Nakasiita emphasized that assessment of the scale of the tragedy “is not yet complete”. The Associated Press reported that So far, the exact causes of the disaster have not been established..
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said in a statement that ordered the Prime Minister to coordinate the evacuation of all people living near the landfill.
Furthermore, the government launched an investigation into the causes of the disaster and ensured that will take action against employeeswho are they responsible for negligence in the storage of urban waste.
The Kampala landfill, known to the local community as Kiteezi, was for decades the only landfill in the Ugandan capital.
Although the mountain of garbage has been overflowing for a long time, it is more than 2,000 tons of waste were added to it every day.. At least that’s what Kampala Mayor Erias Lukwago says has been warning for months that the landfill poses a threat.
Reuters notes that similar tragedies have occurred in other African countries in recent years. Each time the cause was inadequate management of municipal landfills.
For example, in 2017, in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, 115 people died as a result of the landslide. A year later, in Maputo, capital of Mozambique, at least 17 people died in a similar disaster.
