16 killed in Sri Lanka as massive mound of garbage collapses

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 poor neighborhood near Sri Lanka’s capital during festivities to mark the local new year, officials said Saturday. A rubbish dump landslide in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo has killed at least 16 people and injured over a dozen, a military spokesman and hospital officials said this morning. Four people were rescued from underneath the mound, but it was unclear whether any others were buried, said military spokesman Roshan Seneviratne, who said five children were among the dead. The site had been used to dump Colombo’s garbage for the past few years as authorities sought to give a face-lift to the capital. However, residents living in tiny homes in the area had been protesting against waste being dumped there because of health hazards.
A landfill slide in Colombo, Sri Lanka, kills at least 16 people.