Heavy rains have hit eastern Uganda destroying homes and crops, and leaving 17 children and one adult dead, the Red Cross said on Tuesday.

“Now 18 people confirmed dead,” all but one of them children, in the village of Bulembo in the eastern district of Buyende, said Irene Nakasiita, the Red Cross spokeswoman.

“Many buildings are blown away, others de-roofed, crops destroyed,” she said.

“Teams on the ground couldn’t complete the assessment due to another heavy downpour in the same communities.”

Others gave different death tolls from the fierce weather. Ugandan police said there were 13 deaths in the village.

But Buyende district chairman William Kiiza said up to 30 people were feared dead.

“We suspect between 20 to 30 people to have died in the heavy rainstorm as some were hit by debris and collapsing walls,” Kiiza was quoted as saying by the local media.

“There are bodies under collapsed structures, some families talk of loved ones missing,” he added.

Uganda has two long rainy seasons, one from March to May and again between September and December.

Source : TimesOnline