Death toll in Uganda garbage heap collapse increases to 24

By Saadet Firdevs Apar

ISTANBUL (AA) – The number of people who died in a massive garbage dump landslide in Uganda has risen to 24, local media reported on Wednesday.

Search and rescue efforts are ongoing in the Kiteezi area of ​​the capital Kampala.

On Friday, a mountain of garbage collapsed at a landfill site on the outskirts of Kampala, burying dozens of homes as people slept.

President Yoweri Museveni has directed the inspector general of the government to "expeditiously investigate" circumstances under which a heap of garbage buried people and injured several others.

"The first question that comes to mind is, 'Who allowed people to live near such a potentially hazardous and dangerous heap?" the president said in a statement posted on X.

Established in 1996, Kiteezi landfill is a dumpsite north of Kampala where all garbage is collected in the capital city. Residents have long expressed concern about the hazardous waste that had become a towering hill.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar