Monday, June 25, 2012

450 missing as mudslides bury villages in Uganda


450 missing as mudslides bury villages in Uganda

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By David Mafabi and John Njoroge editorial@ug.nationmedia.com
Posted  Monday, June 25  2012 at  18:14
An estimated 450 people were by Monday night unaccounted for following devastating landslides in Bugisu sub-region, Eastern Uganda.
Residents in the affected areas resorted to desperate rescue measures, using whatever they could find to dig through mounds of mud to rescue their loved ones.
The Ugandan government advised residents living near the affected villages to relocate to safer ground.
At least 11 villages were reportedly buried under mud and heavy boulders, resurrecting memories of the March 2010 and August 2011 landslides that occurred in the same areas.
Officials from the Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) on Monday confirmed 15 people dead following the 2pm heavy downpour that triggered the landslides.
Two villages of Namaga and Bunakasala in the Bumwalukani Sub County, Bududa district were reportedly completely buried.
According to an eyewitness, Ms Rachael Namwono, 29, at least 30 homes in Mabaya Village, in Bulukyeke Sub County, with over 300 men, women and children were completely buried.
“At 2pm, the ground trembled, followed by heavy rumbling of soil and stones which covered our home,” Ms Namwono said.
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According to the Bunamulembwa Village LC III Chairman Ernest Wayengera and the area LCI Chairperson Mr Peter Namulunyi, an estimated 100 household in the village were flattened. An estimated 150 people could not be accounted for by press time yesterday.
In a statement to our Ugandan sister publication Daily Monitor, URCS said it’s Secretary General, Mr Michael Richard Nataka had also joined an emergency ground team in the conducting of a rapid vulnerability capacity assessment.
“The Uganda Red Cross Society has sent a team of volunteers to assess the situation and establish the number of people affected although local authorities have told Red Cross that there could be about 80 people in each of the villages,” URCS head of communications Catherine Ntabadde said yesterday.
Government also said it had swung into action.
“The minister of State for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees Hon. Musa Ecweru will be travelling to Bududa district to assess the situation. Government is working towards ensuring that affected families receive necessary assistance in form of relief items,” government said in a statement last evening.
It could not however confirm the number of those dead. By 7 pm however, a Red Cross roll had confirmed 18 dead, 9 hospitalised, 72 survivors. Nine victims of the landslide in Bulukyeke had been referred to Bududa hospital with serious injured.
Old wounds opened
This is the third time landslides are affecting these areas.
In August last year, URCS declared Bududa a disaster area after landslides injured eight people and left 420 others homeless. Among the affected areas was the Simuyu village in Bulucheke Sub County.
In March 2010, at least 300 people were killed and over 5000 people displaced after a six hour downpour triggered off landslides in several villages on the slopes of Mount Elgon.
The affected villages included Nametsi, Kubewo, and Nankobe. An estimated 90 homes were destroyed in Nameti village alone. The affected villages were buried by fast moving mud, with houses, markets, and a church destroyed; many roads were also blocked.
In Butaleja, over 6,000 homes from the sub-counties of Kachonga, Masimasa, Kimuntu and Nawangofu were affected. Two primary schools in Nabehere and Lubembe had to be closed.
The Mbale-Busolwa road was also closed due to flooding.
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Bulucheke’s Vice Chairperson Mr Nasson Wanasolo, who witnessed the Bulukyeke mudslide, told reporters an estimated 100 people could have been buried in Monday’s disaster.
“At around 2pm a huge mass of socked soil and boulders struck the hamlet. Most of the villagers were in their homes and children were trying to get to their homes,” Mr Wanasolo said.
“We all ran for our dear lives. It was dreadful,” Mr Wanasolo added.
He is currently admitted at the Bududa District hospital with a broken limb, an injury he sustained as he tried to save himself.
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He said nine of his children were missing and are feared dead

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