Hundreds feared buried in mass landslides in Uganda

Isaac Kasamani / AFP - Getty Images

Residents of Bududa mill around an area where 18 people were buried alive following a mudslide in Bunamulembwa village in eastern Uganda.

By Ian Johnston, msnbc.com

At least 18 people were killed and hundreds of people were feared buried after landslides hit villages in Uganda, according to reports.

The Daily Monitor newspaper reported that at least 11 villages in the mountainous Bududa area of eastern Uganda?had been hit and two, Namaaga and Bunakasala, had been completely engulfed.

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Witness Rachael Namwono, 29, told the paper that at least 30 homes in Mabaya Village ? containing an estimated 300 people ? had been covered.

"At 2 p.m., the ground trembled, followed by heavy rumbling of soil and stones which covered our home," Namwono told the Monitor.

Two officials in Bunamulembwa Village said about 100 houses were destroyed and 150 people were unaccounted for, the paper added.

'Devastation'
It was not immediately possible to verify the report, but officials in Bududa told The Associated Press that they feared that hundreds of people had been killed.

The affected villages are in a coffee-growing area on the slopes of Mount Elgon straddling the Kenyan border.

Red Cross spokeswoman Catherine Ntabadde told Reuters that the latest reports had confirmed 18 people had died "but assessment of the devastation around the area is continuing."

A local member of parliament, David Wakikona -- who said he had initial reports of more than 100 people buried -- said there was an ongoing danger.

"The areas around Bududa district have been experiencing heavy rains for days now," he told Reuters. "I am told the landslides started around midday today [Monday] and that they're still going on and some villagers who survived the early slides are fleeing."

Landslides caused by heavy rains are frequent in eastern Uganda, where at least 23 people were killed last year after mounds of mud buried their homes. Scores of people were buried alive in a similar disaster in March 2010.

Stephen Mallinga, Minister for Relief and Disaster Preparedness, said an emergency response team had left for the area and hoped the situation would become clearer on Tuesday. "We're also mobilizing relief items like food, tents and water containers," he said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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