As we mourn the unfortunate loss of innocent lives at a landfill in Guinea, this preventable tragedy raises difficult questions about poverty, waste management, public safety, and human responsibility. When a place where people live and work becomes dangerous, the tragedy is not always simply an unfortunate accident. Sometimes, it results from problems that have been visible for years but were never adequately addressed.

One may therefore ask: When does a disaster stop being an accident and become an artificial tragedy, highlighting the need to address social issues that contribute to such events?

A landfill collapse can happen suddenly, but the conditions that make it possible often develop gradually. Mountains of waste can grow over time, environmental risks can increase, safety measures can be overlooked, and people can continue living or working in dangerous surroundings because they have few alternatives.

This is where Guinea's tragedy raises a much larger social issue. People should not have to risk their lives simply because they are poor or because they depend on waste collection and recycling to survive.

For many people living in vulnerable communities, waste is not simply rubbish. It can become a source of income. People can collect and sell valuable materials, which can push them into dangerous areas because they need to provide for themselves and their families. What may look like an obvious danger from the outside can become a necessary livelihood for someone with limited opportunities.

But does poverty make the danger unavoidable?

It should not.

Society and policymakers have a responsibility to ensure people are not forced to choose between earning a living and staying alive through proper waste management, safer working conditions, and enforcement of safety regulations.

When people die because an unsafe environment collapses, society's negligence becomes clear. The question is: why was this preventable tragedy allowed to happen?

Artificial disasters often differ from natural disasters because humans can identify and address many risks beforehand. A mountain of unstable waste does not appear overnight. Poor waste management does not develop in a single day. Communities do not suddenly become dependent on dangerous environments without underlying economic and social problems.

This does not mean that every death can simply be attributed to one person or one institution. Complex social problems rarely have a single cause. But it does mean that responsibility should extend beyond those who happened to be present when the disaster occurred.

Prevention matters. The key lesson from Guinea's landfill tragedy is that acting early can save lives. Identifying failures is about responsibility, not blame, to prevent future risks.

This connection between poverty and environmental danger should inspire us to act. Those most exposed often lack resources to escape hazards, demanding our urgent attention.

This creates a cycle in which poverty increases exposure to danger, while disasters caused by that danger can push families even deeper into poverty.

That is why Guinea's landfill tragedy should not be viewed only as a story about rubbish. It is a story about human lives, poverty, governance, environmental responsibility, and the consequences of allowing dangerous conditions to become normal.

The tragedy also forces society to ask an uncomfortable question: How many warnings does it take before prevention becomes a responsibility rather than an option?

Too often, serious problems receive attention only after lives have been lost. A disaster happens, people express shock, investigations begin, and promises are made. But if the underlying conditions remain unchanged, another tragedy may simply be waiting to happen somewhere else.

Unfortunately, the landfill tragedy in Guinea reminds us that some disasters are not simply unfortunate events, nor are they unexpected natural disasters. No. It is the result of years of inaction and unacceptable negligence.  A disaster waiting to happen. The final consequence of problems that have been allowed to grow over time.

Rubbish may have caused the collapse, but the deeper problem is how society remains unconcerned about such exposed danger and exposes citizens to such danger.

A disaster should not be the first moment when we decide that a problem matters. Prioritising prevention over reaction is essential to avoid waiting until people die before taking action. Otherwise, such late action is little more than medicine after death.