Landslides kill 5 in Uganda, 7 people missing

By Godfrey Olukya

KAMPALA, Uganda (AA) - Landslides on Thursday night killed five people, injured several and seven are missing in the eastern Uganda district of Bulambuli.

The landslides reportedly buried over ten houses, in addition to killing animals and destroying houses.

"One body was retrieved Thursday night while four more bodies have been retrieved Friday morning. So we have five confirmed dead," said Irene Nakasita, spokeswoman of the Uganda Red Cross.

She told Anadolu that their emergency response section released an urgent call on Thursday evening for a response in the villages of Bulugunya and Bumasabo, located in Bulambuli district about 300 kilometers (186 miles) east of the capital of Kampala.

Heavy rains caused the landslides, she said, adding that they dispatched a team to save lives.

They got the body of a 15-year-old boy and several injured people whom they took to hospital.

On Friday, they removed four more bodies from the mud.

Since January, heavy rains in Uganda have caused havoc, including destroying roads, causing landslides and floods, which affected the lives of thousands of Ugandans.

On May 4, eight people got killed by landslides in the western Uganda district of Kisoro.