[1] Koshe (alternatively spelled Quoshee or Repi), derived from the Amharic word for 'dirty', had hundreds of people living in unincorporated communities beneath the 50-year-old garbage dump's unstable mounds.

Both shanty houses and concrete structures were built in Koshe by residents attracted to the area's cheap cost-of-living and availability of recyclables to collect for income.

[1] A large garbage mound collapsed onto a neighborhood of about 150 people, sliding into the community with enough force destroy brick and concrete structures as well as shanty houses.

[2] Garbage landslides are particularly deadly because buried victims are often quickly suffocated by landfill gases like methane and carbon dioxide, in addition to temperatures within decomposing mounds easily reaching 140 °F (60 °C) or higher.

[3] Six excavators were hired by authorities to clear away rubble in the search for survivors or victims[4] Emergency officials rescued 37 people in the immediate aftermath of the landslide, but struggled to reach dozens more buried beneath the black dirt and debris.