More than 200 people are feared dead following landslides that struck Bududa district this afternoon following a heavy down pour. The landslide buried Bwakasola and Bunalembwa villages in Mwalukaru parish in Bulucheke Sub-county. John Nambeshe, Bududa LC V chairman says an estimated eighty people are believed to have been buried alive from the two villages. He explains that the victims included school children who had just returned to their homes for lunch.
The LC V chairman says the landslide first hit the area in the night and destroyed several acres of crops but residents refused to vacate the area. Nambeshe says the locals are currently digging through the rubble to try and find survivors in the rubble. Nassan Wanasolo, the LC 3 chairperson of Bulucheke Sub County says nine members of his family are missing. He told URN two hours after the landslide that he had failed to locate his family members.
He says that early on Monday morning they identified a big deep crack on the hill surrounding the affected villages. Wanasolo says they immediately notified Bududa authorities about the suspected landslides demanding for immediate relocation of the residents. He says that while at the district headquarters this afternoon, they received news about the landslides only to return and find several people feared dead. Wanasolo says that several survivors are stranded with nowhere to go.
Catherine Ntabbade the Uganda Red Cross Communications Director says a team of rescue officials are on the way to the area to begin rescue efforts. She says initial reports they have received indicate that up to 160 people are believed to be buried in the rubble. Today’s landslides come three weeks after two people were killed and 50 others displaced by landslides in the neighboring Sironko district in Bugimwela village in Bumasifa Sub County.
In March 2010 more than 355 people were killed by landlside in Bududa.
