A mountain of garbage gave way at a landfill in Ethiopia Saturday night causing a deadly landslide that’s killed at least 46 people so far, according to local authorities. Most of those killed were women and children, according to residents, and there are fears the death toll could rise at the Koshe Garbage Landfill in the outskirts of Addis Ababa. Local officials estimate there were around 150 people in the area when the landslide occurred.
Hundreds of wastepickers sort through the trash brought to the landfill each day and inexpensive homes line the dump that city officials say collects some 300,000 tons of garbage each year. A local resident told Agence France-Presse news service that she heard “a big sound” and saw “something like a tornado… rushing to us” when the landslide occurred. This is not the first time the ground as given way at the dump, smaller landslides over the past two years have also proven deadly, but not on the scale of Saturday’s landslide.
