Guinea landfill landslide kills 30 people

A landslide at a municipal waste mound in the outskirts of the city was triggered by a heavy freight train that ran over the unstable slope on Tuesday afternoon. The collapse displaced a large portion of the landfill, sending debris into the nearby residential area and causing several houses to suffer structural damage. Emergency crews are currently assessing the extent of the damage and have begun evacuating residents from the most affected zones.

Authorities had issued eviction orders to residents living within a 500‑meter radius of the landfill in the days preceding the incident, citing concerns that the mound could collapse under the weight of the train and other heavy traffic. The orders were part of a broader safety initiative aimed at mitigating the risk of similar accidents, which had been a growing concern after a series of smaller slope failures at the site over the past year. The government has confirmed that the landslide was directly linked to the train’s passage, and investigators are reviewing the site’s stability reports and the train’s weight specifications.

The local government has pledged to provide temporary housing and compensation for those displaced by the landslide. A joint task force comprising the Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the city’s emergency management office has been established to investigate the incident and to develop stricter oversight protocols for freight operations near vulnerable landfill sites. The investigation is ongoing.