The disaster struck at approximately 2:00 am local time on Sunday, 23 August, in the Gbessia commune, on the outskirts of Conakry, after torrential rains washed over the refuse at the city's largest open-air waste dump. Witnesses described the landslide as large enough to bury an apartment building along with more precarious dwellings, and several homes were destroyed.
Six others were seriously injured in the incident, which occurred just hours before the landfill was scheduled to be officially closed due to safety concerns. Prime Minister Mamadou Oury Bah visited the site on Sunday to assess the damage and oversee the response.
A Search for Survivors Beneath the Rubble
Following the landslide, a major search-and-rescue operation was launched, with emergency personnel, military units and excavators deployed to comb through the enormous piles of waste. The government said "significant material and human resources" had been deployed to search for any people who may still be buried. Rescue workers used excavators to search through the collapsed landfill under the gaze of crowds of onlookers.
There are fears that the death toll could rise as rescue teams continue to search the debris. Neighbourhood leader Lancine Sylla had earlier told AFP that he feared a heavy toll, stating: "We have pulled out 18 bodies that were taken to the morgue" before the official toll was announced. In a deeply tragic account, one woman, Cire Diallo, told local media that she had lost her five children in the disaster. "I have lost all my children. All I can do is put my trust in God," she said.
A Disaster Foretold: The Race to Close a Dangerous Landfill
The Dar Es Salam landfill, the largest open-air waste dump in Conakry, had long been a source of danger for nearby residents. Heavy seasonal rains have been known to trigger collapses at landfills in several countries, with Uganda and Ethiopia suffering similar tragedies in recent years. In the days leading up to the tragedy, the government had ordered the expulsion of people living in informal housing around the site due to fears of a collapse.
The site had been designated for closure on the very day of the disaster. Lieutenant Colonel Baldé Mamadou Bailo, the sanitation officer for the military engineering battalion, stated that the closure was planned and that eviction notices had been served. However, many residents remained in the area at the time of the landslide.
Guinea's minister for territorial administration and decentralization, Dienabou Touré, went to the scene and confirmed that authorities would ensure the relocation of remaining families. "We will ensure that the remaining families are relocated elsewhere," Touré said.
A History of Tragedy and a Pattern of Risk
This is not the first time the Dar Es Salam landfill has proven fatal. A similar collapse at the same site killed 10 people in 2017. The recurring tragedy highlights the severe risks associated with unregulated waste sites and informal settlements in the region.
One of Guinea's main opposition figures, former prime minister Cellou Dalein Diallo, who is in exile abroad, called the accident "a tragedy that plunges us into dismay" on Facebook. "This tragedy is all the more worrying because the closure of the dump had been announced for this Sunday, August 23," he said. "It is now up to the competent authorities to establish, with full transparency, the circumstances that led to this disaster and to draw all the necessary conclusions."
Measures have been taken "to ensure medical care for the wounded" and "assistance for those affected by this tragedy," the government statement said. The government of the West African country, led by General Mamadi Doumbouya, who came to power in a coup in 2021 before being elected president in December 2025, continues to oversee the response.
With reporting from BBC, AP News, ABC News, AFP, allAfrica.com, Ahram Online, The Himalayan Times and Illawarra Mercury.
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