At least 30 people have been killed after a mound of rubbish at a major waste site collapsed on to nearby homes in Guinea’s capital Conakry, the government has said.

Another 22 people were injured, including six seriously, in the city’s Dar-es-Salam area.

“Significant” resources and personnel – including the military – have been deployed to search for survivors after the collapse at about 02:00 local time following heavy rain overnight, the government added in a statement.

One woman told local media her five children had died in the disaster. There are fears that the death toll will rise further.

Rescuers were later seen using excavators to comb through a mountain of scattered rubbish at the site as local residents gathered nearby.

Guinea’s Prime Minister Mamadou Oury Bah visited the scene to assess the situation and oversee the search efforts.

Neighbourhood leader Lancine Sylla had earlier told the AFP news agency he feared there would be a heavy death toll.

“We have pulled out 18 bodies that were taken to the morgue,” he said.

Another landslide at the site killed 10 people in 2017.