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- Feb 11, 2007
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Landslide 'kills 100' in Uganda region of Bududa
More than 100 people have been killed in a landslide in the mountainous eastern region of Bududa in Uganda, a minister has told the BBC. Minister for Disaster Preparedness Musa Ecweru has gone to the area to assess what help is needed.
Rescuers are digging through the mud with handheld tools, looking for survivors and bodies.
Up to 60 children are missing. They took shelter in a health centre which reports say was destroyed.
Mr Ecweru said he had counted 58 bodies himself but local officials had told him at least 106 people have died.
All of a sudden the church collapsed. Mud covered the whole place. Five people seated next to me died
James Kasawi, survivor
He said the government had provided 100 coffins "to give the dead citizens a very decent burial".
More than 300 people are reported to be missing after their homes were buried in the area after recent heavy rains.
One survivor said he was at a church service when the landslide hit.
"All of a sudden the church collapsed. Mud covered the whole place. Five people seated next to me died. I only survived because my head was above the mud," James Kasawi told the Associated Press from a hospital in Bududa.
Correspondents say the region, about 275km (170 miles) north-east of the capital Kampala, often suffers from landslides but this is an unusually high death toll.
More than 100 people have been killed in a landslide in the mountainous eastern region of Bududa in Uganda, a minister has told the BBC. Minister for Disaster Preparedness Musa Ecweru has gone to the area to assess what help is needed.
Rescuers are digging through the mud with handheld tools, looking for survivors and bodies.
Up to 60 children are missing. They took shelter in a health centre which reports say was destroyed.
Mr Ecweru said he had counted 58 bodies himself but local officials had told him at least 106 people have died.
James Kasawi, survivor
He said the government had provided 100 coffins "to give the dead citizens a very decent burial".
More than 300 people are reported to be missing after their homes were buried in the area after recent heavy rains.
One survivor said he was at a church service when the landslide hit.
"All of a sudden the church collapsed. Mud covered the whole place. Five people seated next to me died. I only survived because my head was above the mud," James Kasawi told the Associated Press from a hospital in Bududa.
Correspondents say the region, about 275km (170 miles) north-east of the capital Kampala, often suffers from landslides but this is an unusually high death toll.
