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Seven people from one family have been confirmed dead in fresh land and mudslides in Kasese and Bunyangabu districts in south western Uganda.

Three died in Mapata village, in the mountainous areas of Katoke Parish, Bugoye sub-county, Kasese district.

The sub-county chairperson James Katalikawa, identified the deceased as Edmond Bwambale, his wife and their child aged about two.

Katalikawa said tragedy struck as the trio was having an afternoon siesta during a heavy down pour that pounded the area starting around 2:30 pm on Thursday.

“The rolling landslides buried them in their sleep,” Katalikawa said.

Crowds watch a rescue team retrive bodies of people who died in the landslide incident in Bunyangabu. (Credit: Uganda Red Cross)

He added that three houses have been washed away and other property worth unspecified amounts of money were devastated.

“We are yet to account for all the people in the village where the mudslides and landslides occurred,” he said.

Bunyangabu

In neighbouring Bunyangabu district, the Resident District Commissioner, Joshua Masereka, said four people, also of the same family, perished in a land slide during a Thursday afternoon torrential rain.

The incident, he said, occurred in Katumba village, Bunaiga Parish, Katebwa sub-county, also in the Rwenzori mountain areas.

He said the ill-fated house was built under an over-hanging ground that broke loose as it soaked with the rain water and buried them alive.

“The dead included two adults and two children,” he said naming one of the dead adults as Tito Kule Mukidi.

Meteorologists' warning

The incidents occur amidst warnings by the Uganda National Meteorological Authority (UNMA) that May would experience above normal (heavy) rains.

The authority forecast that mountainous regions of the country were most vulnerable, advising communities to take precaution.

Kasese has suffered periodic floods and landslides since May 1, 2013, when several major rivers, especially Nyamwamba, Mubuku, Nyamugasani and Lhubiriha burst their banks, leaving trails of death and destruction to public and private property worth unspecified billions of shillings.

One of the worst public infrastructures has been Kilembe Mines Hospital which is still limping to date and now operates in at an improvised site.