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Uganda landslides kill 23 people, toll seen rising


    KAMPALA (Reuters) - Landslides in eastern Uganda killed at least 23 people and more victims were believed to be buried under mounds of mud, the Uganda Red Cross said Monday.

    The landslides occurred in the early hours of Monday after unseasonably heavy rains near the border with Kenya, razing hundreds of houses, the Red Cross said in a statement.

    "We have so far confirmed 23 people dead in Mabono and Meru villages in Bulambuli district but we have only been able to retrieve 15 bodies. The landslide occurred at about 1 a.m. (2200 GMT) last night," Catherine Ntabbade, spokesperson for Uganda Red Cross, told Reuters.

    Local media quoted officials as saying the death toll was expected to rise further. The heavy rains have also caused heavy flooding and crop damage in some areas, the Red Cross said.

    Scores of Ugandans were killed in a similar disaster in March last year.

    (Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Richard Lough)