Landslides triggered in southwestern Uganda

The ongoing torrential rains in the southwestern Ugandan district of Kisoro are triggering landslides, displacing people, and destroying houses and crops, a local relief agency said Saturday.

According to a spokesperson of the Uganda Red Cross Society, houses were destroyed in Rubuguri Town Council.

The landslides came after heavy rains in the eastern part of the country caused floods, killing at least 24 people and displacing thousands.

In southwestern and eastern Uganda, mountainous areas occasionally experience landslides during the rainy season.

Earlier, eight people had been killed by landslides after a rainstorm hit Kyesika Cell in Katara Parish, Karungu Sub-county, Buhweju District in Uganda.

The heavy downpour was reported to have started at around midday destroying property including a kitchen where some people, now deceased were taking shelter.

As reported by Uganda’s Daily Monitor, The Mbarara District Inspector of Schools, Deo Muhwezi, who is also a resident of Katara, said police and health workers visited the scene to offer assistance.

Among the deceased is a mother and her three children aged six, eight, and twelve. Some other two victims are admitted at Bwizibwera Health Centre IV in Mbarara.

The Buhweju District Police Commander, Mr. Denis Kamugisha, said the postmortems were done at the scene of the incident and relatives have been permitted to proceed with burial arrangements.

According to official estimates, floods affected over one million people in 2021.