Guinea Landfill Collapse Kills at Least 30, Site Was Set to Close the Same Day

A wall of trash came down on a slum in Guinea's capital before dawn Sunday. At least 30 people are dead, according to a government statement reported by Al Jazeera. That number climbed through the day from an earlier provisional toll of 22 given by the country's civil protection service, cited by the Associated Press, KIRO 7, KMBC, WAPT, and the LA Times.

The collapse happened around 3 a.m. at Dar Es Salam, the largest landfill in Conakry, located in the Ratoma district's Dar-es-Salaam neighborhood. Heavy rains soaked the massive refuse heap until it gave way, according to the Associated Press. The landslide buried nearby shacks. Six people were seriously injured, and several homes were destroyed.

The dump was scheduled to close that very day. Lieutenant Colonel Baldé Mamadou Bailo, sanitation officer for the Military Engineering Battalion, confirmed to the Associated Press and Al Jazeera that Sunday, August 23, was the planned closure date.

Authorities had already ordered evictions around the site over collapse fears, according to Al Jazeera. The government had issued eviction notices, forcing many residents to leave. But plenty of people were still there when the trash came down, according to the Associated Press.

Dienabou Touré, Guinea's minister of territorial administration and decentralization, told reporters at the scene: "We will ensure that the remaining families are relocated elsewhere."

Guinea's Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah visited the site as excavators dug through the wreckage, according to Al Jazeera. Lancine Sylla, head of the Dar-es-Salaam suburb, told AFP his team had "pulled out 18 bodies that were taken to the morgue" and said he feared the toll would climb further.

A closure that came too late

Cellou Dalein Diallo, a former Guinean prime minister and now an opposition figure living in exile, called the disaster "a tragedy that plunges us into dismay" in a Facebook statement reported by Al Jazeera. He zeroed in on the timing: "This tragedy is all the more worrying because the closure of the dump had been announced for this Sunday, August 23."

Diallo demanded that "the competent authorities" establish "with full transparency" what caused the disaster and "draw all the necessary conclusions." If the government knew this dump was dangerous enough to shut down, why were eviction notices still being enforced as the deadline arrived instead of well before?

Closing an active urban landfill overnight is complex. People built homes near it because they had nowhere else to go, and moving thousands of residents takes time, money, and coordination. Rural and urban poverty in Conakry means informal settlements often crop up in hazardous zones regardless of eviction notices.

A government born in a coup, now facing scrutiny

Guinea is led by General Mamadi Doumbouya, who seized power in a 2021 coup before winning a presidential election in December 2025, according to Al Jazeera. His government is now fielding demands for transparency from an exiled opposition figure. Whether Doumbouya's administration investigates this as a preventable failure or treats it as a natural disaster to be managed remains unclear.

None of the outlets reporting this story have indicated any criminal investigation or formal inquiry has been announced. No charges, no named findings of negligence, nothing beyond eyewitness accounts and the government's own death toll. The rescue operation was still active as of Sunday afternoon, according to the Associated Press, and the death toll had already moved from 22 to at least 30 in the hours since first reports. It is likely to keep climbing as crews dig through what's left of the neighborhood.

Sources
Associated Press (via AP News, KIRO 7, WAPT, KMBC, and The Journal)
Al Jazeera
LA Times