Flooding and landslides have killed at least 129 people in Rwanda and six in Uganda, as rescuers search for survivors trapped in homes.
Weeks of heavy rain in the region has triggered the disaster.
One video posted by the state-owned Rwanda Broadcasting Agency showed muddy water gushing down an inundated road and destroying houses.
“We woke up at 2am and heard people screaming,” Angelique Nibagwire said from the Karongi district in western Rwanda where at least 16 people died.
Another resident in the area, Nyandwi Emmanuel, said three relatives died after a house he was renting to them collapsed as they slept in the night.
Alain Mukurarinda, Rwanda’s deputy government spokesperson, said fatalities had risen to 129 by 3:30pm on Wednesday, local time.
“Our main priority now is to reach every house that has been damaged to ensure we can rescue any person who may be trapped,”
the governor of Rwanda’s Western Province François Habitegeko said.
Some people were rescued and taken to hospital.
Mr Habitegeko said the River Sebeya had burst its banks.
“The soil was already soaked from the previous days of rain, which caused landslides that closed roads,” he said.
President Paul Kagame said his government was helping affected people, including with temporary relocations.
In a mountainous area of neighbouring Uganda near the border with Rwanda, six people died overnight into Wednesday in the south western Kisoro district, the Uganda Red Cross said.
Five were from one family, and emergency workers had begun excavations to retrieve the bodies.
Rwanda and Uganda have been experiencing heavy and sustained rains since late March.
Landslides have been reported in other elevated areas of Uganda, like Kasese near the Rwenzori mountains, where deluges and floods destroyed homes and displaced hundreds.
Source: ABC
