Tens of thousands of Ugandans were to be moved on Friday from hilly regions in the east of the country after a deadly landslide, as heavy rains sparked fears of another disaster, officials said.
“We are looking at 4 000 as the urgent number we need to relocate,” said Wilson Watira, the district chairman of Bududa, a town near the villages engulfed by Monday’s avalanche.
In the “longer term, it may be 35 000 that need to move, but those ones are not immediate”, he told Agence France-Presse.
About 300 people are feared dead after the huge landslide that submerged three villages on the slopes of Mount Elgon. At least 80 bodies have been retrieved.
More heavy rains were expected in the region in the coming weeks.
“The rains are expected to intensify, with the main peak around early April,” the Environment Ministry said in a statement.
“There are high chances that flooding will once again occur in flood-prone areas of central, eastern and western Uganda,” it added.
The Uganda Red Cross said they were distributing food and other relief items to about 1 500 households.
A Red Cross spokesperson said there was no hope of finding any more survivors as the steep terrain and driving rain hampered rescue efforts carried out using simple farming tools, as heavy equipment could not reach the disaster zone.
“The excavation efforts are failing,” said Hasfah Kabejja said.
“This may end up being a mass grave. We are not saying that is what will happen, but it might be the case.” — Sapa-AFP