Garbage piles up in Sri Lanka after collapse at dump site

HUNDREDS of tonnes of rotting garbage piled up in Sri Lanka’s capital yesterday after the main rubbish dump was shut following an accident that killed at least 30 people.

Authorities sealed the 90-metre rubbish mountain on the northeastern edge of Colombo after it collapsed on Friday, destroying 145 homes nearby and burying victims in a garbage landslide.

Military spokesman Roshan Seneviratne said hundreds of troops were still searching for six people missing since the accident, but authorities were not hopeful of finding any survivors.

The Colombo Municipal Council was scrambling for new locations to dump the roughly 800 tonnes of garbage produced every day in the capital, as crows and stray dogs picked through bags of reeking garbage left on city streets.

The council sought permission yesterday from a local magistrate to access another tip outside the city limits, promising it would clear the four-day backlog of trash within 24 hours.

“We are finding new locations. By noonWednesday I am hopeful of restoring normality in clearing the garbage,” Commissioner VKA Anura said.

The death toll from Friday’s accident climbed to 30 yesterday as another victim was found, Seneviratne said.

Officials said 1,700 people living near the tip had been relocated to temporary shelters while the government searched for alternative accommodation.