Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Lanka ends search for garbage survivors as toll hits 32

988853
988853
minus
plus

Colombo: Sri Lanka on Wednesday ended the grim search for survivors five days after a huge garbage mountain collapsed onto a slum, killing 32 people and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of residents.


Another 11 people were injured when the 300-foot dump partially collapsed on Friday as Sri Lankans celebrated their traditional new year.


“We are still carrying out clearing operations,” said military spokesman Roshan Seneviratne.


“The final death toll is 32 and a handful of people who were listed as missing are now accounted for.”


Hundreds of security forces have been working round the clock to clear the debris at Kolonnawa on the northeastern edge of Colombo.


Authorities have declared neighbouring areas unsafe for housing. On Wednesday Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe promised survivors permanent housing within a couple of months.


He also promised to shift the garbage dump and move the residents to safer locations.


Parliament had earlier been warned that the vast tip posed a serious health hazard, and that a long-term solution was needed to dispose of Colombo’s trash.


A night of heavy rain, followed by an outbreak of fire, destabilised the 23 million-tonne garbage heap at Kolonnawa, causing its collapse.


The Colombo Municipal Council had promised to remove the rotting piles of rubbish along the streets by noon Wednesday, but residents said it remained uncleared.


There were sporadic protests in the suburbs of Colombo against the dumping of garbage in smaller landfills in their neighbourhoods. Police were called to disperse protesters along a main highway on Wednesday and allow garbage trucks access to new dumping grounds.


— AFP


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon