Landslide at Guinea landfill kills 30, government says

CONAKRY, Aug 23 (Reuters) - A ‌landslide at ​a ​landfill in Guinea's capital killed 30 people, the government said on Sunday, after heavy rains overnight ‌prompted the collapse of a massive mound of ⁠waste that engulfed nearby tents and shacks.

• The incident occurred at around ‌2 a.m. (0200 GMT) in ‌the Gbessia commune of Conakry, according to a government statement.

• The death toll was 30, with six people seriously ​injured and 16 more lightly injured, the statement said.

• Rescue operations were continuing at the site of the ⁠landslide, which witnesses said was large enough to bury an apartment building along ​with more precarious dwellings.

• One woman, Cire Diallo, told reporters at the scene that her five children ​were killed. "I have lost all my ‌children. All I can do is put my trust in God," she said.

• Guinea holds ⁠the world's largest bauxite reserves and richest untapped iron ore deposit at Simandou, where a massive mining project was launched in ⁠November. But the West African country has poor infrastructure and widespread ​poverty, with 3.7 million of its 15.1 million people living on less than $4.20 per day, according to a World Bank report published in ‌April.

• Guinea's minister of territorial administration, Djenab Toure, announced on Thursday that the government was ‌closing the landfill because of the danger it posed, especially ⁠during the ongoing rainy ‌season, and said the ​waste was to be relocated outside Conakry.

(Reporting by Guinea newsroom; Writing by Robbie Corey-BouletEditing by Tomasz ‌Janowski)

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