A mountainous heap of refuse collapsed at the largest landfill in Guinea 's capital of Conakry, killing 30 people, according to the central government.
Authorities said heavy rains started at around 2am and washed over the refuse at Dar Es Salam, triggering a landslide that buried nearby shacks.
A search and rescue operation was underway to find survivors.
Six people were seriously injured and several homes were destroyed.
The open-air waste dump had been designated for closure, according to Lieutenant Colonel Baldé Mamadou Bailo, the sanitation officer for the military engineering battalion.
Locals living around the landfill had been given eviction notices, which forced many to leave the area, but many others were still around at the time of the disaster, according to authorities.
"We will ensure that the remaining families are relocated elsewhere,” Dienabou Touré, the minister of territorial administration and decentralisation, said at the scene.
Guinea is mineral-rich with huge deposits of bauxite — the largest in the world — and also has iron ore, gold, diamonds and minerals. However, according to the World Bank, 43.7% of the population lived below the national poverty line.
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