At least 18 killed in Uganda landslides: Red Cross

A landslide killed at least 18 people in two hamlets following torrential rains in eastern Uganda, a region affected by similar disasters in the past, the Red Cross said on Monday.

"Eighteen people have so far been confirmed dead," spokeswoman Catherine Ntabadde told AFP, adding the toll could rise as searches intensified in villages in the mountainous Bududa district near the border with Kenya.

The landslide ripped through the villages of Namaga and Bunakasala in the  foothills of Mount Elgon which straddles the border with Kenya.

Ntabadde said emergency teams were searching the site to try to establish the number of people killed in the slide but that local authorities estimate around 80 people live in each hamlet.

This is the third time eastern Uganda has been hit by deadly mudslides in three years. Last year two dozen people were buried alive when mud engulfed their homes in Mabono village.

In March 2010, a mudslide in the same district as Monday's is estimated to have killed more than 300 people.

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