Bududa landslide: Hope of finding survivors fades

By Daniel Edyegu and Paul Watala

Hopes of recovering more survivors from the scene of tragic landslides that swept Bumalugala parish in Bulucheke sub county, Bududa district, have waned.

A combined team of local residents and volunteers from the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) worked tirelessly Tuesday without recovering any human bodies.

Animal carcasses recovered from the scene were hovering a stench. Armed with pangas, hoes, a chain saw and sticks, the team dug up thick mounds of soils and hacked the eucalyptus trees and timber mangled up in the ruins of buildings without success.

People swarmed the scene of the tragedy while relatives sat desolate on tree stamps and stones hoping to recover their loved ones for decent burial. A joint force of UPDF and police were deployed in the area to provide security and guard property of survivors.

Michael Nataka, the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) secretary general explained that the recovery efforts were being hampered due to the magnitude of soils swept down by the landslides.

“No dead body has been discovered yet. The soils washed down in the landslides are about 10 meters deep. These hoes and pick axes we are using aren’t strong enough to get the bodies. This will require heavy earth equipment to make any headway,” Nataka said.

Despite contradicting reports of missing persons and buried houses with the district putting the number of the dead at 41, the URCS maintained that only 18 persons were are missing. URCS noted that nine people were injured, 72 survived, 15 houses were buried and 448 people were staying in high risk areas.

Musa Ecweru, the disaster preparedness state minister said Government would not evacuate residents from the high risk areas to Kiryandongo but advised them to stay with relatives residing on relatively safe zone.

“Each time a landside occurs, we are told to evacuate people to Kiryandongo which is not feasible. We already have 3700 Bamasaaba from Bugisu region in Kiryandongo evacuated in 2010. Families in high risk areas should stay with relatives so we can render help to the host families,” Ecweru said.