Following the collapse of a massive garbage landslide landfill in the northern district of KIteezi, Uganda at the weekend, police said four more bodies have been recovered from the site, bringing the death toll to 34.
“With the recovery of four bodies on Thursday, the death toll has reached 34,” Kampala Metropolitan police spokesman Patrick Onyango told AFP.
The landslide buried people, homes, and livestock in mountains of filthy waste.
With the discovery of the bodies, the total number of those missing has decreased to 35, from an earlier official toll of 39.
However, shadow foreign affairs minister Muwada Nkunyingi, who also doubles as the area’s representative in parliament claimed that more people are missing compared to what police are reporting.
According to him, “From what the community members are saying, the dead could reach even 100. Since the tragedy we see people turning up looking for their loved ones, family members.”
Kampala city mayor Erias Lukwago described the incident as a “national disaster”.
Earlier, he had cautioned about the risks of overflowing waste from the site. It was established in 1996 and takes in almost all garbage collected across Kampala.
Several areas in Uganda and other parts of East Africa have been battered by heavy rains recently.
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