Heavy rains in Uganda kill 17 children, one adult

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KAMPALA, April 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – 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 deroofed, 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.