KAMPALA, Uganda - Landslides killed at least 29 people on Monday, including children buried in their homes in an eastern district of Uganda, officials said.
"Twenty-nine people perished in the landslides when their houses were buried in mud. We have so far recovered 19 bodies," said Musa Ecweru, the minister of state for disaster preparedness.
The government has sent excavators to help recover any remaining bodies, he said. At least 22 houses were buried.
The Red Cross has found had the bodies of 6 children so far, said Uganda Red Cross spokeswoman Catherine Ntabadde.
The landslides came Monday after heavy rainfall in Mabono village in the Bulambuli district, 267 kilometres east of Kampala, Ntabadde said.
The Red Cross has sent volunteers to the region to find out whether there have been any other landslides in nearby villages. Ecweru said that many other houses in the region were at risk. Residents were reporting large cracks appearing in walls, he said.
Last year over 300 people were killed by landslides in Bududa district in the eastern region of Uganda. Two weeks ago seven people were killed by landslides in Uganda's northeastern Karamoja region.
