Guinea on Friday held a mass funeral for 36 people killed when a section of a landfill collapsed in a suburb of the capital, Conakry, following heavy rainfall.
Thousands of mourners gathered for the funeral, held several weeks after the tragedy in the Dar-es-Salam neighbourhood, where part of the huge garbage dump gave way overnight between August 22 and 23.
Authorities announced an updated death toll of 36 during the ceremony, revealing that 17 of the victims were Sierra Leonean nationals.
The bodies were taken to a mosque in Bambeto, a Conakry suburb, where Muslim funeral prayers were conducted before the victims were buried at the Bambeto cemetery.
Among the mourners were relatives, friends, religious leaders and government officials. Several women overcome by grief were seen collapsing into trance-like states during the ceremony.
One survivor, Aboubacar Camara, described the tragedy as devastating.
“We are completely disillusioned. We are deeply troubled by this tragedy. We don’t know what to do,” he said.
Conakry Governor General Mahawa Cisse expressed solidarity with the victims’ families, saying, “Guinea is in mourning, and we share the suffering of the victims’ loved ones.”
About 20 people remain hospitalised following the disaster, while more than 1,600 others have received assistance, according to the country’s emergency management agency.
In the aftermath of the collapse, authorities began demolishing houses located in areas considered vulnerable to further incidents from the landfill.
However, affected residents have criticised the manner in which the demolition exercise is being carried out and are calling on the government to provide adequate relocation assistance.
The tragedy has renewed concerns over the safety of communities living close to waste disposal sites and the need for stronger measures to prevent similar disasters in the future.
