By Andrew Irumba
Bududa: The number of people who died in the mudslides that ravaged Bududa districts on Tuesday night has hit 5, although eyewitnesses reveal that more than 50 others are still missing.
An operation mounted by the UPDF, Uganda police, Red Cross and locals in Bududa is already underway, with hopes of rescuing some people who are still trapped under the rubble. About 150 houses were reportedly razed by the landslides, which swept away people, animals, crops and birds. Although initially government had reported only person dead, the office of the Prime Minister says that Search and Rescue teams which were sent on the ground to work with local authorities and other agencies have so far recovered five corpses. The team is also establishing other facts about the mudslides and will later to inform the line Ministry on the next course of immediate action.
In the meantime, people living on risky and dangerous slopes of Mt Elgon continue to be advised to move away and seek shelter with friends and relatives in lower and safer grounds as the rains come. The latest landslide comes a few months after the government started resettling the first batch of the survivors of the October 11, 2018 landslides in the same area and other places in Bugisu sub-region to Bulambuli Resettlement on May 19.
