The death toll from last week’s landslides in the Sebei sub-region has risen to 21 after five additional bodies were recovered in Bukwo District on Monday evening. Rescue teams continue to dig through mud and debris using rudimentary tools as the search intensifies.
The newly recovered bodies, including two infants, were exhumed from Kwanwa Village in Kapteka Parish, Chesower Subcounty.
Regional tallies now stand at seven deaths in Bukwo, six in Kween, and five in Kapchorwa, with at least 11 people still missing and feared buried under heavy mud and boulders.
According to Kween Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Hope Atuhaire, another body was retrieved in Girig, a low-lying area heavily flooded by runoff from the surrounding highlands.
The community-led search, supported by the Uganda Police Force and the UPDF, continues under harsh and risky conditions.
Chesan Sylus, a resident involved in the operation, said seven bodies have so far been recovered from the Kwanwa site alone—five from one family and two from another.
“This morning, we unearthed two infants from a family of seven; the remaining five are still underground,” he said.
Sipi Regional Police spokesperson Fredmark Chesang confirmed the updated toll and noted that nine survivors have been accounted for.
During her visit to the region on Sunday, State Minister for Disaster Preparedness Lillian Aber urged residents in high-risk zones to vacate immediately. She said the government has set up a temporary holding camp at Moyok in Kween District for displaced families until the rains subside and a long-term resettlement plan is put in place.
RDC Atuhaire also confirmed the arrival of relief food from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) to support affected households.
As rescue efforts continue, families cling to hope that their missing loved ones will be found, even as worsening weather conditions threaten to complicate the painstaking search. Authorities say operations will continue until every missing person is accounted for.
