At least 13 dead after landslides bury 40 homes in villages in eastern Uganda
The Uganda Red Cross Society said on Thursday at least 13 bodies had been recovered after landslides "completely buried" 40 homes in six villages of the mountainous district of Bulambuli the previous night.
Images on local media showed huge swaths of fallen earth covering the land in the village of Masugu, about a five-hour drive from the capital, Kampala. Videos and photographs shared on social media purported to show people digging for survivors in the village of Kimono.
The Uganda Red Cross Society said the rescue effort was continuing but the death toll was likely to rise.
"We lost about 30 people," district commissioner Faheera Mpalanyi told the AFP news agency, adding that six bodies, including that of a baby, had been recovered so far.
"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.
The heavy rains in recent days caused flooding in the northwest after a tributary of the Nile River burst its banks, prompting the prime minister's office to issue a disaster alert on Wednesday, saying that main roads across the country had been cut off.
Emergency teams were sent to rescue stranded motorists.
A road connecting the country with South Sudan was impassable 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.
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