Fifteen dead, more than 100 missing in east Uganda landslide

KAMPALA - Fifteen people have died and at least 100 more are missing after a landslide triggered by heavy rains buried dozens of homes across several villages in eastern Uganda, the prime minister's office and police said on Thursday.

The landslide occurred on Wednesday in Bulambuli district, about 300 km (190 miles) east of the capital Kampala.

At least 40 households were completely buried, the Uganda Red Cross Society said in a statement, while others were partially damaged.

"We have 15 dead and fears are that there are many more bodies still buried," said Charles Odongtho, spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) which overseas disaster response work.

He added that more than 100 people were still missing across eight villages.

"We are shocked that it was this devastating," Odongtho said. He said all bridges in the area had been swept away and roads inundated by water.

Police said that 113 people were missing and that impassable roads were preventing vehicles, including ambulances, from conducting rescue operations.

Uganda has been hit by unusually heavy rainfall since October that has triggered widespread flooding and landslides in some areas.

On Tuesday torrential rains caused the River Nile, the main branch of which runs through Uganda, to burst its banks and flood a highway connecting Kampala to the country's northwest, according to the Uganda National Roads Authority and police.

Large swathes on the slopes of Ugandan mountains have been denuded of their forests and other vegetation cover for cultivable land, increasing the risk of landslides.

The area where the landslide occurred is mountainous and has experienced similar disasters in the past, including an avalanche in 2010 that killed at least 80 people.

(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Hereward Holland, Ammu Kannampilly, Angus MacSwan and Hugh Lawson)