Death Toll Rises After New Floods Wreak Havoc in West Uganda
At least 12 people have died and a number of others are missing after flash flooding sparked fresh landslides in Uganda’s western Bundibugyo district on Saturday, December 7, government officials said.
The new devastation in Bundibugyo comes after repeated flooding throughout November was reported to have left more than 4,000 people displaced in the district.
This footage, posted by the Uganda Red Cross Society (Red Cross), shows flooding in Bundibugyo on both Saturday and Sunday. Photos from the Red Cross showed rescuers carrying people, including young children and and elderly woman, through muddy floodwaters.
The village of Kirindi was the worst affected, the humanitarian organization said, with 11 bodies recovered there by 7 pm Saturday.
Survivors in Kirindi, located near the town of Bundibugyo, shared photos online showing a church and other buildings entirely destroyed, and mud, debris and rocks strewn all over the village by the floodwaters.
According to Ugandan newspaper The Independent, at least 30 homes were destroyed in the district.
State Minister for Relief and Disaster Preparedness Musa Ecweru told NTV Uganda on Saturday that supplies and personnel were dispatched to the area, and that 12 bodies had been recovered. The district was working to relocate the thousands of people who had been displaced by flooding, Ecweru said. The Daily Monitor also reported on Saturday that the government had pledged to cover the costs of victims’ funerals.
Storms are forecast to bring more rain to Bundibugyo in the days and weeks ahead, as the rainy season continues.
On Wednesday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had said “unusually heavy rainfall” across Eastern Africa had affected 2.8 million people and killed 280 in recent months. Credit: Uganda Red Cross Society via Storyful
