16 killed in Sri Lanka as massive mound of rubbish collapses

COLOMBO, SRI LANKA // At least 16 people were killed and more than 600 others fled their homes after a massive mound of garbage collapsed on part of a town outside of Sri Lanka’s capital during festivities to mark the local new year, officials said on Saturday.

The 91-metre high dump came crashing down on neighbouring homes as the country marked the traditional new year on Friday.

Four children were among the dead following the incident at Kolonnawa on the northeastern edge of the capital, Colombo national hospital spokeswoman Pushpa Soysa said.

Soldiers dug through rubbish with their bare hands on Saturday to pull out victims, and four people were rescued, but it was unclear whether any others were buried, said military spokesman Roshan Seneviratne. Soldiers were searching the site.

Ms Seneviratne said 625 people whose homes were either destroyed or under threat were being housed in nearby schools.

“We remain on standby, some people who were pulled out of wrecked homes were brought in overnight,” she said. “The search operations are on, so we are expecting more victims to be brought in.”

Businessman Saman Wimalasiri said he helped to rescue several people trapped inside wrecked homes.

“We used ropes and pulled out an elderly woman who was trapped under the debris of her own home,” he said.

He said some areas could not be reached because the garbage slide had made them unstable.

Residents were angry that the Colombo municipality had continued to dump hundreds of tonnes of garbage at the dump daily despite safety concerns, said Guttila Silva, a former mayor.

About 800 tonnes of solid waste is added per day to the open dump.

“People are naturally angry because their protests were ignored,” Mr Silva said. “ I fear the death toll could go up because more than a dozen are still missing.”

* Associated Press and Agence France-Presse