BUNDIBUGYO, UGANDA: At least two people have been confirmed dead while one is still missing after fresh floods and mudslides hit parts of Bundibugyo District yesterday night.
The heavy downpour that started at around 6pm on Friday, September 2, 2022, lasted over 12 hours and left many people’s houses and properties worth millions of shillings destroyed.
By today (Saturday) afternoon, two bodies including one of a 4 year-old girl (identified as Pritha Masika) had been retrieved dead by locals who offered the immediate help to the situation.
Residents also recovered the body of 30-year-old Bwambale Munyabasi from River Mbule in Ntandi Town Council.
“He was trying to cross the river on his way home in the night. Munyabasi is a resident of Kubango Village, Mabere Sub County,” members of a local rescue mission said.
Village chairman Mr Mushenene Zakel said his brother Mate Mushenene was also still missing by Saturday afternoon after he was swept away by floods as he tried to cross Nyakihghoma River in the night. Mushenene is resident in Nyakighoma trading center.
“Some of the traders in the area slept at their relatives’ places because all access roads and bridges were swept away, cutting off the other sub counties of Ngamba, Mabere and Ntandi Town Council.
“People’s properties have been destroyed because there is too much flooding coming from the mountain and we are telling people to take safety measures,” Ntandi Town Council chairman Mr Timothy Asaba Galibulha told this reporter.
In 2017, about 17 people died in Bundibugyo District after the area was hit by deadly floods and mudslides.
“Our area is prone to all categories of disaster. We are at higher risk and that’s why we need a mindset in areas of disaster policy and disaster risk reduction intervention,” said Bughendera County MP, Moses Kiiza Acrobat.
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