The Telegraph UK
written by Staff
Wednesday March 3, 2010 at 7:07AM GMT
In the wake of the landslide villagers were digging with bare hands and simple tools in the hope of finding survivors.
"Eighty bodies have been recovered and the missing are more than 400 now, after 100 people were reported buried in a trading centre where they had taken shelter," said government spokeswoman Catherine Ntabadde.
Ugandan media said the landslide engulfed a village in the eastern Bududa district on the foothills of Mt Elgon on Monday night after a seven-hour downpour.
"The latest reports I have indicate 80 bodies have been pulled out," Tarsis Kabwegyere, Minister for Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, told Reuters.
The local NTV channel showed mud and wattle houses flattened by viscous earth and wailing villagers piling bodies on a grassy compound.
"About 300 people are feared buried by the landslide and the landslides are expected to continue as the rains intensify in the region," he said.
Mr Kabwegyere said a government response team was on the ground with food and the Red Cross had sent doctors. Police and volunteers were also helping in the rescue.
Parts of Uganda and neighbouring Kenya have had sustained rain for much of the past two months, which is usually a dry period between rainy seasons.
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