At least 115 people killed in Rwanda, Uganda flooding

Heavy rains that caused floods and landslides in western and northern Rwanda have killed at least 109 people, the state broadcaster said on Wednesday, as authorities searched for survivors trapped in their homes.

Muddy water rushed down flooded roads and destroyed houses in a video clip posted by the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency.

“Our main priority now is to reach every house that has been destroyed to make sure we can rescue anyone who may be trapped,” François Habitekego, the governor of Rwanda’s Western Province, told Reuters.

The death toll was 95 in the province, he said. The number of state broadcasters is 109 including deaths from the second region, the Northern Province.

Several people have been rescued and taken to hospital, Habitegeko said, but did not specify the number.

The hardest-hit districts in Western Province were Rutsiro, with 26 deaths, and Nyabihu with 19, while 18 people died in Rubavu and Ngororero, he said.

Habitekego said it started raining on Tuesday at about 6pm and the river Sebeya burst its banks.

“The ground has been soaked since the days before the rain, which caused the landslide that closed the road,” he said.

The Rwanda Meteorological Agency has forecast above average rainfall in May for the East African country.

Deadly beginning of the year

The western and northern provinces and Kigali, the capital, especially the hills, make it vulnerable to landslides during the rainy season.

The Ministry responsible for Emergency Management reported last month that from January to April 20, a weather disaster that killed 60 people, destroyed more than 1,205 houses and destroyed 2,000 hectares of land in Rwanda.

In neighboring Uganda near the border with Rwanda, six people died overnight into Wednesday in an area south-west of Kisoro district, after heavy rains pounded the mountainous region, according to the Uganda Red Cross.

Five of the dead are from one family, and emergency workers have begun digging to retrieve the bodies, the Red Cross said in a statement.

Uganda has also experienced heavy and persistent rain since late March, and in recent days landslides have been reported in higher areas, such as Kasese near the Rwenzori Mountains, where floods and landslides have destroyed homes and displaced hundreds.