At least 48 people killed in garbage dump Landslide in Ethiopia

No fewer than 48 people are reported to have died, 15 of them children, following a landslide which occured at a dumpsite in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Saturday night. Those lucky to survive are in hospital receiving treatment...

City spokesperson Amare Mekonen revealed that 28 people were hospitalised.  49 dwellings were also destroyed in the disaster and a number of people are still reportedly missing.

The 50-year-old dumpsite is inhabited by hundreds of people who make their living by scavenging for food and recyclable items which they can sell. Efforts are being made to find the missing and resettle affected families. Hope for Korah, an NGO, revealed that some people who were trapped in the landslide made calls from their phones so that they could be found and rescued. One woman and her three children were able to escape just as their home was swallowed up in the landslide.Many people at the site are still looking for their family members.

The country's communications minister, Negeri Lencho, while speaking on the incident, said:

"It's a sad story because the government has been trying to resettle the people residing in the area. The government had also been building a factory to convert waste products at the landfill into electric energy."