A deadly landslide triggered by heavy rains swept through a rural community outside Guinea’s capital on Wednesday night, killing at least 11 people and injuring 10 others, authorities confirmed Thursday.
The disaster occurred in Maneah, a commune in Coyah Prefecture, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Conakry, when a section of a mountain gave way, sending a torrent of mud and debris crashing into homes built at its base.
In a statement, the National Agency for Emergency Management said that the death toll may rise as search and rescue efforts continue into Thursday evening.
“Last night, it was around 7 p.m. It was raining, and suddenly I saw the mountain collapsed. It fell on the houses below. The mud buried them. No one came out alive,” Kone Pepe, a resident who witnessed the disaster explained.
Authorities say the collapse was directly linked to intense rainfall, which has battered the region in recent days.
“It’s a part of the mountain that gave way under the effect of the rain and spilled onto the buildings,” said Mory Condé, Minister of Urban Planning and Housing, during a visit to the site.
The incident comes amid record flooding across West Africa, which claimed over 1,000 lives last year and displaced hundreds of thousands. Experts have warned that increasing climate variability is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of such disasters.
