Bishkek- Nine people scavenging for scrap metal in Kyrgyzstan's capital were killed when a huge waste dump collapsed on top of them, a rescue official said yesterday.
He said the tragedy occurred on Sunday evening when a 7-metre wall of a trench dug in the dump suddenly collapsed on top of a group of "metal hunters", entombing them.
Scavenging for non-ferrous metals and other industrial waste, which can earn scavengers just a few cents, is a common practice in this ex-Soviet Central Asian state of five million, where salaries average $30 a month.