Landfill collapse in Conakry kills at least 30 people following heavy seasonal rains

Overnight collapse in Gbessia

Heavy seasonal downpours caused a mountainous mound of garbage to collapse at the Dar Es Salam landfill in Conakry on Sunday, 23 August 2026. The disaster occurred in the Gbessia district on the outskirts of Guinea's capital, where days of persistent rain saturated the waste disposal site. Precipitation that intensified between 02:00 and 03:00 local time washed over the refuse, triggering a landslide of mud and trash. The collapsing slope buried adjacent informal settlements, flattening multiple homes and shacks before daybreak while residents were inside.

Casualty figures and emergency response

Rescue crews digging through the mud initially recovered 18 bodies on Sunday morning, with local suburb administrative head Lancine Sylla warning early that casualty numbers would be high. Guinea's civil protection service subsequently recorded a provisional toll of 22 dead, before a formal government communique raised the confirmed death toll to 30. The government statement also reported 22 injured residents, detailing that 16 sustained light injuries while six suffered serious wounds.

Emergency teams and security forces deployed excavators and heavy machinery across the disaster zone to clear tons of debris and search for any individuals still buried beneath the trash. Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah and the Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation, Djenabou Touré, travelled directly to the site on Sunday to monitor the rescue efforts. Touré noted during her morning inspection that definitive casualty figures would depend on the conclusion of search operations. The Guinean government confirmed that medical resources were mobilized to treat the wounded and provide direct assistance to displaced survivors.

Landfill closure orders and security measures

The collapse occurred on the very day the Dar Es Salam landfill was scheduled to be closed. Lt. Col. Baldé Mamadou Bailo, the sanitation officer for the Military Engineering Battalion, confirmed that the facility had been designated for permanent closure on Sunday. In the days leading up to the disaster, the national government had ordered safety interventions and the evacuation of residents living in informal housing surrounding the perimeter due to structural instability and collapse risks. Despite these expulsion directives and warnings, households remained in the high-risk area when the weather deteriorated.

Political reactions and historical precedent

The catastrophe prompted reactions from Guinean political figures regarding safety management at the site. Former prime minister and opposition leader Cellou Dalein Diallo, speaking from exile abroad, called for a formal inquiry into the events leading up to the disaster.

This tragedy is all the more concerning given that the closure of the landfill was announced for this Sunday, 23 August. It is now up to the competent services to establish, with complete transparency, the circumstances that led to this disaster and to draw all the consequences.

The incident is the deadliest waste collapse in Guinea in recent years, surpassing an August 2017 landfill collapse in Conakry that killed 10 people after torrential downpours. Waste-management hazards exacerbated by intense seasonal rains have triggered similar disasters elsewhere across the continent in recent years, including fatal landfill collapses in Ethiopia and Uganda.