Dozens killed, buried under trash after landfill collapses in Ethiopia

(Image credit: Screenshot/CNN)

published 13 March 2017

At least 60 people have been killed outside of the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa after a heap of garbage at a dump collapsed in a deadly landslide, CNN reports. "It's a sad story because the government has been trying to resettle the people residing in the area," said Communications Minister Negeri Lencho.

Hundreds of people lived on the landfill in makeshift homes, even as the government has been working to relocate the residents and figure out how to convert the waste at the landfill into an energy source. Since the slide, the government has transferred 290 residents who were not injured to a temporary shelter.

Hope for Korah, a Canadian NGO, wrote: "One of our HFK families was rescued after she and her three children scrambled to the top as their home was sliding. Many others living in that area were not so fortunate. One of our children from Berta is missing as her father and family watched her disappear."

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The landfill has been in use for more than half a century, with an estimated 300,000 tons of waste dumped at the site every year, NPR reports.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.