Pallade Veneta - At least 15 dead, 113 missing, in Uganda landslides

The East African country has been deluged by heavy rains in past days, with the government issuing a national disaster alert after reports of flooding and landslides.

Landslides late on Wednesday hit the village of Masugu in the eastern Bulambuli district, about five hours from the capital, Kampala.

Images on local media showed huge swathes of fallen earth covering the land.

"A total of 15 bodies have been retrieved," the Ugandan police said in a statement posted on X, adding that another 15 people had been taken to hospital.

"Unfortunately, 113 people are still missing, but efforts are underway to locate them," it said.

The statement said five villages -- Masugu, Namachele, Natola, Namagugu, and Tagalu -- had been impacted.

Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja told NBS television that they "believe" all the missing were presumed dead.

"We are trying to exhume the bodies of those missing people," she said, adding that at least 19 people had been injured, two of them in critical condition.

District commissioner Faheera Mpalanyi said early Thursday that six bodies, including a baby, had been recovered so far from Masugu village.

"Given the devastation and the size of the area affected and from what the affected families are telling us, several people are missing and probably buried in the debris," she said.

Ugandan Red Cross spokesperson Irene Nakasiita said on X that 15 bodies had been recovered, including seven children.

Some 45 homes had been "completely buried," she added.

Police said rescue operations were being hindered by impassable roads, blocking ambulances and rescue vehicles from reaching the scene.

A Uganda Red Cross video showed a huddle of people desperately digging through earth as women wailed in the background.

Some 500 soldiers had been deployed to help with the rescue but only 120 had managed to reach the villages, Nabbanja said.

- 'Disaster situations' -

The scale of the multiple landslides was unclear.

Videos and photographs shared on social media purported to show people digging for survivors in Kimono village, also located in the Bulambuli district.

The Ugandan prime minister's office issued an alert, writing on X: "Heavy rains on Wednesday in parts of Uganda have led to disaster situations in many areas."

The rains caused flooding in the northwest after a tributary of the Nile River burst its banks.

Emergency teams were deployed to rescue stranded motorists.

A major road connecting the country with South Sudan was obstructed late on Wednesday, with emergency boat crews deployed near the town of Pakwach.

"Unfortunately, one of the boats capsized, resulting in the death of one engineer," Uganda's defence forces said on X.

The deadliest landslide in Africa ravaged Sierra Leone's capital Freetown in August 2017, when 1,141 people perished.

Mudslides in the Mount Elgon region of eastern Uganda killed more than 350 people in February 2010.

Earlier this year, more than 30 people died in Kampala after a massive rubbish landslide.

B.Fortunato--PV