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Dar-es-Salam Fact

Conakry Landfill Kills Thirty

Guinea’s government put a 16:00 UTC provisional toll at 30 dead and 22 injured after the Dar-es-Salam waste mound in Gbessia collapsed onto nearby dwellings at about 02:00. The dump was already under a closure programme. Physical closure had not been completed.

Guinea’s government said a waste mound at the Dar-es-Salam landfill in the commune of Gbessia, Conakry, collapsed onto nearby dwellings at about 02:00 on Sunday 23 August after heavy overnight rain [E1][E2]. Reuters carried the government figure at 19:03 UTC: 30 dead, 22 injured, six of them seriously [E1]. AFP, syndicated by Boursorama, used the same 16:00 UTC provisional ledger [E2]. Secondary Guinean reports of 31 or 32 were not backed by a retrieved Civil Protection bulletin and are not in this count [E1][E2].

The government said rescuers were still searching for people who might remain buried and gave no quantified missing-person number [E2]. AFP’s on-scene caption showed an excavator in the search [E2]. The communiqué said operations had the support of the defence and security forces, the Red Cross, medical teams and local authorities [E3].

Closure was already policy. A June government release listed progressive closure of the Dar-es-Salam dump [E4]. Territorial Administration Minister Djenab Touré said on 20 August that the site would close because of rainy-season danger and that waste would be moved outside Conakry [E1]. Guinea Matin, on site that day, quoted ministers telling residents the dump must close, with preparatory works still to start [E5]. Ordered closed is yes. Already physically closed before 02:00 is not established [E1][E5].

The same dump collapsed in rain on 22 August 2017, with a contemporaneous provisional toll of at least eight dead [E1]. Sunday’s facts are the 02:00 clock, the government 30, and a closure programme that had not finished [E1][E2][E4]. Whether the official toll rises above 30, and whether ordinary Conakry waste stops arriving at Dar-es-Salam by 31 August, are later clocks [E1][E2].

The Record · Provenance for this story
E1 ↩ Reuters Landslide at Guinea landfill kills 30, government says 2026-08-23
source
E2 ↩ AFP / Boursorama bilan provisoire établi à 16 heures 2026-08-23
source
E3 ↩ Enquête 224 30 morts, plusieurs blessés graves 2026-08-23
source
E4 ↩ Gouvernement de Guinée fermeture progressive de la décharge de Dar-es-Salam 2026-08-23
source
E5 ↩ Guinée Matin le gouvernement sensibilise les riverains de la décharge de Dar-es-Salam 2026-08-23
source
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