Mudslides ravage Mbale and Kanungu

May 16, 2010

LANDSLIDES over the weekend ravaged the districts of Mbale in eastern Uganda and Rukungiri in the west, causing human deaths and destruction of infrastructure, food crops and household property.

By Vision Reporters

LANDSLIDES over the weekend ravaged the districts of Mbale in eastern Uganda and Rukungiri in the west, causing human deaths and destruction of infrastructure, food crops and household property.

Three children, two of them from the same family, were killed after torrential rains caused a mudslide that struck their homes in the newly-created Bubyangu sub-county in Mbale district on Saturday night.

The dead, whose bodies were recovered about two kilometres away from their homes, were Amina Nandudu, 12, Juma Kikumi, 12, and Siana Namusiru, 4, all residents of Makyese village. Twelve people have been reported missing.

Residents narrated that heavy rains pounded the area from 10:00pm for three hours, offsetting big stones and soil to roll downhill, destroying about 30 homes.

The victims reportedly ran out of their houses but were overtaken by the fast-rolling mud.

Eastern region Police commander Joel Aguma, who visited the area, advised the survivors to leave the dangerous slopes.

Kevin Nabutuwa, the Uganda Red Cross field coordinator for the eastern region, yesterday said the landslide swept through nine villages, displacing 320 people.

She explained that 35 households were water-logged, while 150 households were at risk. The survivors are camped at Bumadanda Primary School.

In Rukungiri district, motor traffic stalled after landslides blocked the road at Kamujegye in Rwerere, Nyakagyeme sub-county, cutting off Kanungu district. Over 300 people who were travelling to and from Kanungu are stuck in the enengo (gorge) at Nyakagyeme.

The alternative route to Kanungu via Queen Elizabeth National Park was also cut off after the Ishasha Bridge was submerged. Residents used the calamity to make money by selling food, beer, waragi and local brew to the trapped travellers.

The LCI chairperson for Kamujegye village, Domiano Kasigwa, said the landslides started at around 10:30pm on Saturday during a heavy downpour that lasted for over eight hours.

A Uganda Red Cross official, Edson Turyatemba, reported that people in a radius of 10km have been affected. Rukungiri district secretary for social services Emmy Ngabirano described the incident as “a disaster which needs the attention of the Government.”

Ngabirabo said several acres of banana, cassava, beans, potatoes, coffee and maize crops were destroyed.

Last Monday, four people were killed by mudslides at Bugipawa in Sironko district.

On March 1, a massive landslide swept the slopes of Mt. Elgon in Bududa district, killing about 350 people.
The landslide erased Kubehwo, Namakansa and Nametsi villages located in Bukalasi sub-county.

Meanwhile, in low-lying Tororo district where most Mbale water drains, Paya sub-county has been hit by floods, leaving 721 people affected, according to the Uganda Red Cross.

By Joseph Wanzusi in Mbale, Caleb Bahikaho in Rukungiri and Henry Mukasa in Kampala

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