Rescuers use excavators on the site of a garbage dump landslide in Maputo, capital of Mozambique, on Feb. 19, 2018. At least 17 people were killed and several others were injured in a landslide in a garbage dump on the outskirts of Maputo due to heavy rain on early Monday morning. (Xinhua/Celso Baife)
MAPUTO, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 people were killed and several others were injured in a landslide in a garbage dump on the outskirts of the Mozambican capital Maputo due to heavy rain on early Monday morning.
The victims living around the Hulene garbage dump were asleep when the rain caused the garbage to collapse and bury their houses.
Local authorities have been at the site of the accident since morning. Firefighters proceed to debris to rescue survivors or bodies.
Maputo City Governor Yolanda Cintura told the press at the scene that the government will meet today to draw up plans to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.
"At this point, the government has already made a commitment to identify places to house people who are homeless due to this bad event," she said, adding that the number of families affected is still to be quantified.
The governor thanked the efforts of people with good will who are assisting firefighters and other competent authorities in removing debris.
Without giving more details, the governor said the disaster has sped up the government's pace to close the dump.
Located among houses and in the city, the Hulene garbage dump is a precarious and old dump whose closure has been under discussion for many years.
"The closure is already well underway," Cintura said, "and most of the families living around the garbage dump have already been resettled in other neighborhoods in Maputo."
The governor said that although the precarious situation of the dump was identified a long time ago and steps have been taken, many people still return to that place.
The local residents always complain to the government about the nauseating smell of the dump, around which many waste pickers and street-loafers have wandered.
In 2014, the garbage wall collapsed and interrupted the neighboring road for two days.
