Kampala, Uganda – (AFP) – Landslides in several villages in eastern Uganda have killed 15 people and left more than 100 unaccounted for, police said on Thursday.
The East African country has been deluged by heavy rains in the past few days, with the government issuing a national disaster alert after reports of flooding and landslides.
Landslides late on Wednesday hit the village of Masugu in the eastern Bulambuli district, about five hours from the capital, Kampala.
Images on local media showed huge swathes of fallen earth covering the land.
“A total of 15 bodies have been retrieved,” the Ugandan police said in a statement posted on X, adding that a further 15 people had been admitted to a local hospital.
“Unfortunately, 113 people are still missing, but efforts are underway to locate them,” it said.
The statement said five villages — Masugu, Namachele, Natola, Namagugu, and Tagalu — had been impacted.
District commissioner Faheera Mpalanyi said that six bodies, including that of a baby, had been recovered so far from Masugu village.
“Given the devastation and the size of the area affected and from what the affected families are telling us, several people are missing and probably buried in the debris,” she said.
Ugandan Red Cross spokesperson John Cliff Wamala said “13 bodies have been recovered”, adding that multiple villages were struck in the district.
He said as many as 40 homes had been “completely destroyed, with others sustaining partial damage”.
Police said they were working with the local community and other security agencies to intensify rescue operations but were being hindered by impassable roads, blocking ambulances and rescue vehicles from reaching the scene.
A video from the Uganda Red Cross showed a huddle of people desperately digging through the disturbed earth as women wailed in the background.
– ‘Disaster situations’ –
The scale of the multiple landslides was unclear.
Videos and photographs shared on social media purported to show people digging for survivors in Kimono village, also located in the Bulambuli district.
The Ugandan prime minister’s office issued an alert, writing on X: “Heavy rains on Wednesday in parts of Uganda have led to disaster situations in many areas.”
The downpour in recent days caused flooding in the northwest after a tributary of the Nile River burst its banks.
Emergency teams were deployed to rescue stranded motorists.
A major road connecting the country with South Sudan was obstructed late on Wednesday, with emergency boat crews deployed near the town of Pakwach.
“Unfortunately, one of the boats capsized, resulting in the death of one engineer,” Uganda’s defence forces said on X.
The deadliest landslide in Africa ravaged Sierra Leone’s capital Freetown in August 2017, when 1,141 people perished.
Mudslides in the Mount Elgon region of eastern Uganda killed more than 350 people in February 2010.
Earlier this year, more than 30 people died in Kampala after a massive rubbish landslide.
© Agence France-Presse
