Red Cross personnel carry the body of a victim at the site of a collapsed landfill in Kampala
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I Uganda’s tragic incident where the Kiteezi landfill collapsed and buried tens of houses and scores of people alive is still unfolding. Latest figures from police have revealed that the death toll from a mountain of rubbish that collapsed in the Ugandan capital has shot up to 32. As rescuers with excavators continued searching for victims, four children were dug out of the rubbish, bringing the number of victims to 32.
“The search is still on, but our hope that we would find any other victims alive are fading by the hour,” said a police source on condition of anonymity.
The Kiteezi landfill is a vast rubbish dumpsite in an impoverished hillside area that used to receive hundreds of garbage trucks on a daily basis. The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), who are in charge of the landfill are yet to divulge more information on what caused the disaster that claimed the life of both the young and old.
Red Cross personnel carry the body of a victim at the site of a collapsed landfill in Kampala
However, officials Habari Daily spoke to attributed the unfortunate occurrence to a structural failure in waste mass, cause by heavy rainfall.
“It’s intruiging why KCCA had not decommissioned this site despite declaring it full years ago,” he wondered.
Because of this laxity, the Kiteezi dumping site had turned into a kind of no-man’s land in the city of 3 million, where hundreds financially devastated people sought shelter. Many others resorted to building permanent homes nearby. Irene Nakasiita, a spokesperson for the Uganda Red Cross, said although they are yet to lay dout their serch and rescue tools, they have now lost hope of rescuing more people alive. bPresident Yoweri Museveni has also chipped in and ordered an investigation into the disaster.
In messages posted on his official social platform X, he wondered why people were living in close proximity to an unstable heap of garbagHe wondered who allowed people to live near such a potentially hazardous and dangerous heap. The search and rescue team combing the garbage collapse at Kiteezi landfill have recovered four more bodies today.
Police has claimed that the number of the missing is 39 as the search for victims continues
