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At least 17 people were killed and several injured early Monday when a massive rubbish mound collapsed in a poor district of Mozambique’s capital Maputo, crushing several homes, emergency services said.
The collapse happened at around 3:00 a.m. (0100 GMT) in the impoverished Hulene neighbourhood, which is around 10 km from the center of Maputo.
Torrential rain is thought to have caused the loose waste to shift and crash down on the shacks, trapping the occupants who were sleeping at the time of the incident.
Mozambique's emergency service warned there could be more victims, trapped under the 15-meter waste pile.
"The information we received from local authorities is that the number of people living in those houses exceeds the number of deaths recorded, so work is still ongoing to see if there are any other deaths," said spokesman Leonilde Pelembe.
The rubbish mound destroyed five homes and rescue teams were still searching through the wreckage to find survivors, he added.
The houses were built illegally and authorities had previously asked the residents to leave, officials said.
Local resident Maria Huo, whose family home was partially destroyed in the landslide said however: "I live in this neighbourhood because I have nowhere to go. Had the government told me to go to another place to live, I would have left here."
"It's been more than 10 years that the dump should have been closed because it's full – but they still continue to pile trash on the trash,” she said.
Land pressure in many African cities leads some people to squat on land they do not own as they seek higher wages available in urban centres. The dwellings are sometimes built on land that is marginal or unsafe.
(AFP&REUTERS)
