Rescue teams rush to Bududa after deadly landslides

The Search and rescue team are in Bududa following a landslide that hit the area last night. But the rescue efforts were being hampered by bad weather and tortuous terrain.

The minister of state for environment, Mary Goretti Kitutu rushed from Kampala to Bududa to work with the rescue teams.

This is the latest among several landslides in the mountainous district. Five bodies have so far been retrieved from beneath boulders and mud. In October last year, over 40 people were killed by similar mudslides in the same district.

The humanitarian agency said the five bodies - Mary Serina Kibone, 73, Patrick Wakuwemba, 4, Stella Alice, 7, Mary Kimono, 13 and another of an identified boy - have been recovered today in the four worst hit areas in the sub county. 

Triggered by rains, boulders and mud from the slopes of Mt. Elgon barreled through villages - blanketing several homes and crop fields.

A statement from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) confirmed destruction of property and missing persons. 

The state minister for environment, Kitutu, said, "I am traveling to Bududa to work with the local teams and advise. The people affected are in the areas where we have always discouraged people from living."    

The affected families are in need of assistance ranging from water purifiers, blankets, food and shelter.



Separate Landslides occurred as result of the heavy downpour that pounded the hills in the night. The roads were cut off and families living on other side of the mountain could not cross to another side.

Some of the survivors narrate how it all started but it is a story not worthy listening to. They are stranded and in shock and helpless as tears roll down their cheeks in hospelessness. They are searching for their missing relatives.

However, River Suume, which killed people in October last year when it burst its banks, has also flooded leaving, especially those who live near the river banks in Bubiita trading centre, displaced.




Some of the survivors have been retrieved and taken Bubisikwa lower village in Baugobero parish where they camped for overnight as they waited for assistance.

Officials from Bududa district and Uganda Red Cross have started assessing the magnitude of that landslide and also establish the number of people who could still be trapped by the boulders.

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, while in Bukalasi sub-county in October last year directed that people in very risky areas be moved to safer places in Bunambutye.

Some government installations like schools, Health centres, and Sub counties in hardtop reach areas have been cut off and hundreds of people are not accessing social services.

Similar landslides have also occurred in Bukalasi sub-county and but no death has been confirmed. The gardens and over 20 houses have been destroyed.

In Buwali sub-county, still in Bunamwaba parish, in the villages of Bunamwaba north and Bunamwaba south, another landslide also occurred killing four people.

More in New Vision tomorrow