Nine people still missing in Elgon landslides - Police

PIC: Police spokesperson Asan Kasingye, Polly Namaye, the deputy Police spokesperson and Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Emilian Kayima during the weekly press briefing held at Police headquarters in Naguru. (Photo by Shamim Saad)

ENVIRONMENT | LANDSLIDE

The police rescue team is still searching for the nine people who were reported missing following an Elgon region landslide.

The Police spokesperson, Asan Kasingye said officers are on ground excavating the area to establish whether said persons were buried in the landslide, last week.

He was addressing journalists at the Police's weekly press briefing at the headquarters in Naguru.

The landslide is took place on August 28 at about 6:00pm in Rusave village, Masaba sub-county in Sironko district during a downpour.

One Teopista Nakusi Wanyenze, wife to Michael Butsentse, who had gone to cut grass for their cows was burried in the mud. Her body was recovered after the rains.

The landslides also damaged several homes, coffee plantations, bananas gardens and other food crops.

Kasingye said the Police, together with local authorities, are doing their best to recover any other bodies.

"The place where the incident took place is hard-to-reach and our equipment cannot do much at the moment, but we are doing our best," he added.

He asked the Government to work with the local authorities to evacuate the remaining families to prevent further loss of life.

"We found stones weighing about 10 tonnes at the top of the mountain and these can kill more people since the rains are still going on," Kasingye added.