Guinea held a mass funeral attended by thousands on Friday for the 36 people killed in a landfill collapse in a suburb of the capital last month following heavy rains.
Many of the victims were sleeping when part of the massive garbage dump, located near homes in the Dar-es-Salam neighbourhood, gave way overnight between August 22 and 23.
During the ceremony on Friday, authorities announced an updated toll of 36, including 17 Sierra Leonean nationals among the dead.
The three dozen bodies were taken to a mosque in Bambeto, a Conakry suburb, for Muslim funeral prayers.
Around twenty people remain hospitalised, and more than 1,600 people have received assistance, according to the country’s emergency management agency.
Since the collapse, authorities have been demolishing houses in the zone considered at risk from the rubbish dump, citing the need to protect the population from another tragedy.
