Death Toll Soars to 82 in Addis Ababa Garbage Landslide
Scuffles break out in Ethiopia as bereaved families accuse rescue workers of delays after rubbish collapse kills scores.
CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE. “The Ethiopian government is fully responsible for
this totally preventable disaster. The government was aware that the
landfill was full to capacity but continued to use it regardless. It
also let hundreds of people continue to live in close proximity.” –
Amnesty International (Photo: Reuters
BY AL JAZEERA
Bereaved
families scuffled with rescue workers on Tuesday at a dump (aka
‘Koshe’) in the Ethiopian capital where the collapse of a mountain of
rubbish killed at least 82 people on Saturday.
Relatives
pushed and shoved emergency workers, angrily accusing them of delays
and saying dozens of people were still missing after the disaster at the
Reppi dump.
“Nobody is helping us.
We are doing all the digging ourselves. It is shameful,” Kaleab Tsegaye,
a relative of one victim, told the Reuters news agency.
Ethiopia on Tuesday declared three days of national mourning that will be observed from tomorrow.
The
collapse late on Saturday destroyed 49 makeshift homes inside the
landfill site on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, city spokesman Amare
Mekonen said.
Over the past few days,
a few rescuers have used bulldozers to move piles of rubbish as
hundreds of people have gathered at the scene, weeping and praying. Some
dug through the rubbish with their hands.
“My
babies, my babies, my little daughter,” cried one man wandering through
the dump in the Ethiopian capital on Monday, tears streaming down his
face. Neighbours said he had lost his wife and four children.
On one side of the hill, volunteers sobbed as they pulled out three corpses, including a child found on top of its mother.
Hundreds
of people live on the 50-year-old Reppi dump, the capital’s only
landfill site, scavenging for food and items they can sell such as
recyclable metal.
It was not immediately clear what caused the collapse.
“We
expect the number of victims to increase because the landslide covered a
relatively large area,” Dagmawit Moges, head of the city’s
communications bureau, said.
About 150 people were at the site when the landslide happened, resident Assefa Teklemahimanot told The Associated Press news agency.
Addis Ababa Mayor Diriba Kuma said 37 people had been rescued and were receiving medical treatment.
“In the long run, we will conduct a resettling programme to relocate people who live in and around the landfill,” he said.
“My
house was right inside there,” said a shaken Tebeju Asres, pointing to
where one of the excavators was digging in deep, black mud. “My mother
and three of my sisters were there when the landslide happened. Now, I
don’t know the fate of all of them.”
Inside Addis Ababa’s Koshe rubbish landfill where hundreds literally
scratch a living. The arrival of fresh rubbish at the Koshe dump –
especially if the truck is from an affluent area – can unleash tense
scrambles. (Photograph: Caroline Knowles)Residents Blast Government
The resumption of dumping at the site in recent months most likely caused the landslide, Assefa said.
Dumping
had stopped in recent years, but it resumed after farmers in a nearby
region, where a new landfill complex was being built, blocked dumping in
their area.
Smaller landslides have occurred at the Koshe landfill in the past two years, Assefa said.
Some
volunteers had also expressed anger at the city administration on
Monday as media arrived at the scene. As well as the two excavators,
only three ambulance workers were at the site. Scuffles broke out
between them and residents as journalists approached.
“Stop
pretending for the cameras!” one local said. “They haven’t provided us
with anything. Not even gloves. When it gets dark, we are using our
mobile phones [for light].”
“We have
warned the authorities for more than 10 years as the rubbish piled up.
There has not been any response. It is criminal negligence,” said Taye
Woldeamanuel, a 48-year-old whose sister narrowly survived the
landslide.
About 500 waste-pickers
are believed to work at the landfill every day, sorting through waste
from the capital’s estimated four million residents. City officials say
close to 300,000 tonnes of waste are collected each year from the
capital, most of it dumped at the landfill.
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