Colombo, Sri Lanka — At least 10 people were killed and 12 others injured when 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 on Saturday.
The Disaster Management Center said that 75 people whose homes were damaged were being housed in a nearby school. Soldiers were still searching the site to ensure that nobody was buried under the enormous heap of garbage.
The disaster occurred on Friday night in Meetotamulla, near Colombo. 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.