Death toll from Sri Lanka garbage dump collapse rises to 20

The death toll from the collapse of a garbage dump in Sri Lanka rose to 20 on Sunday, the disaster management center said. (Photo: Ignazio Carpitella/ Flickr)

COLOMBO–The death toll from the collapse of a garbage dump in Sri Lanka rose to 20 on Sunday, the disaster management center said.

The center said that residents of over 130 houses in the location have been advised to evacuate for fear of more garbage collapsing.

The government said Saturday there will be no more dumping of garbage at Meetotamulla, just outside capital Colombo, following the tragedy.

Deputy Foreign Minister Dr. Harsha de Silva said the problem ran for decades, perhaps as long as 20 years, and finally led to the collapse of a part of the garbage mountain.

“Anyway, no more garbage will be dumped at this site,” he said.

He also said that it was unfortunate that even though payments had been made for those families under risk of landslides to move out some had not done so.

They had been advised to leave as recently as two days ago, he complained.