At least 34 people have been killed after a river in eastern Uganda burst its banks, sending thick sludge and rocks barrelling into homes, disaster officials said Friday.
Rescue teams were picking through the rubble, looking for survivors and victims of the disaster which took place on Thursday in the town of Bukalasi in the Bududa district. An unknown number of people were still missing.
“I can confirm 34 people are dead. We have to wait for our assessment to be completed before we can say how many are missing,” said Uganda Red Cross spokeswoman Irene Nakasiita.
On Thursday she shared photos of the scene of what she described as a “massive landslide” on WhatsApp, including images of dismembered corpses caked in mud laid out by the river.
Some of the bodies had been partly covered with banana leaves by members of the public.
“The cause was the river bursting its banks upstream following heavy rain. When the water flowed down it brought a number of big stones with it that destroyed people’s houses,” said Nakasiita. Read more