Landslides late on Wednesday hit the village of Masugu in the eastern Bulambuli district, about five hours from the capital, Kampala
\n KAMPALA
\nLandslides that hit several villages in eastern Uganda killed 15 people and left more than 100 unaccounted for, police said Thursday.
\nThe East African country has been deluged by heavy rains in past days, with the government issuing a national disaster alert after reports of flooding and landslides.
\nLandslides late on Wednesday hit the village of Masugu in the eastern Bulambuli district, about five hours from the capital, Kampala.
\nImages on local media showed huge swathes of fallen earth covering the land.
\n\u201cA total of 15 bodies have been retrieved,\u201d the Ugandan police said in a statement posted on X, adding that another 15 people had been taken to hospital. \u201cUnfortunately, 113 people are still missing, but efforts are underway to locate them,\u201d it said. The statement said five villages \u2014 Masugu, Namachele, Natola, Namagugu, and Tagalu \u2014 had been impacted. Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja told NBS television that they \u201cbelieve\u201d all the missing were presumed dead.
\n\u201cWe are trying to exhume the bodies of those missing people,\u201d she said, adding that at least 19 people had been injured, two of them in critical condition.
\nDistrict commissioner Faheera Mpalanyi said early Thursday that six bodies, including a baby, had been recovered so far from Masugu village.
\n\u201cGiven 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,\u201d she said.
\nUgandan Red Cross spokesperson Irene Nakasiita said on X that 15 bodies had been recovered, including seven children.
\nSome 45 homes had been \u201ccompletely buried,\u201d she added.
\nPolice said rescue operations were being hindered by impassable roads, blocking ambulances and rescue vehicles from reaching the scene.
\nA Uganda Red Cross video showed a huddle of people desperately digging through earth as women wailed in the background.
\nSome 500 soldiers had been deployed to help with the rescue but only 120 had managed to reach the villages, Nabbanja said.
\nThe scale of the multiple landslides was unclear.
\nVideos and photographs shared on social media purported to show people digging for survivors in Kimono village, also located in the Bulambuli district.
\nThe Ugandan prime minister\u2019s office issued an alert, writing on X: \u201cHeavy rains on Wednesday in parts of Uganda have led to disaster situations in many areas.\u201d
\nThe rains caused flooding in the northwest after a tributary of the Nile River burst its banks.
\nEmergency teams were deployed to rescue stranded motorists.
\nA major road connecting the country with South Sudan was obstructed late on Wednesday, with emergency boat crews deployed near the town of Pakwach.
\n\u201cUnfortunately, one of the boats capsized, resulting in the death of one engineer,\u201d Uganda\u2019s defense forces said on X.
\nThe deadliest landslide in Africa ravaged Sierra Leone\u2019s capital Freetown in August 2017, when 1,141 people perished.
\nMudslides in the Mount Elgon region of eastern Uganda killed more than 350 people in February 2010.
\nEarlier this year, more than 30 people died in Kampala after a massive rubbish landslide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Landslides late on Wednesday hit the village of Masugu in the eastern Bulambuli district, about five hours from the capital, Kampala KAMPALA Landslides that hit several villages in eastern Uganda killed 15 people and left more than 100 unaccounted for, police said Thursday. The East African country has been deluged by heavy rains in past […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446534,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-446512","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n