Dozens of people were disappeared in the Bududa district of eastern Uganda as a result of landslides caused by heavy rainfall, the local Red Cross announced on Wednesday. The first reports indicate that some 150 houses could have been destroyed, with five persons allegedly deceased and some 50 disappeared, “the Red Cross said in a statement.
According to the Red Cross spokesman, Irene Nakasiita, “there was heavy rainfall in the region [Bududa] that provoked landslides” and numerous destructions. The Bududa district, at the foot of the Elgon Mountain, on the Uganda-Kenya border, is a high-risk area for landslides. In 2018, at least 41 people died when a river in the area overflowed. And in 2010 a hundred people died in a landslide.
The cabinet of the Ugandan prime minister, Ruhakana Rugunda, explained on his part that there were “landslides and destructions of property, as well as missing persons”. In total we estimate that the more than 100,000 people living in precarious conditions on the slopes of the Elgon are in great danger and have to be rehoused to avoid the risk of landslides, “said the cabinet. Local deputy Godfrey Watenga told AFP that the landslides took place on Tuesday night. ” It’s a tragic event. Many people would have died and many would be missing, but we tried to get details because the affected peoples are very difficult to access, “he added.
Original source in Spanish
