Search on for mudslide survivors

Rescue teams in Uganda are still digging into heaps of mud in an effort to rescue survivors of a landslide that has so far killed 88 people while 400 are still missing.

Lack of advanced rescue equipment has complicated the rescue efforts.

There are no earth movers on site and some residents are digging with their bare hands.

Others are using hoes and spades in a desperate search for survivors and bodies that are still believed to be buried in the mud.

Three villages were swept away by the landslide in Eastern Uganda on Monday night.

The landslide is said to have been caused by heavy rains, which continue to pound the country.

Thousands of people have been displaced and President Yoweri Museveni on Thrusday said that the government would resettle them.

He ordered the immediate evacuation of people from the affected villages to safer ground.

Uganda Red Cross spokesman Michael Nataka said that basic supplies had been sent to the area to assist survivors.

A sombre mood has hit the affected areas as desperate residents await the news about the whereabouts of their loved ones.

Rescued bodies are scattered on the ground, covered with blankets. Other villagers are in desperate need of humanitarian assistance after all their food and belongings were buried in the mud.

Ugandan authorities say that more than 3,000 people were affected by the landslide which hit Nametsi, Namakansa and Kubewo villages on the slopes of Mt Elgon.

Disaster Minister Tarsis Kasabwegere said rescue efforts would continue until all the missing people are accounted for.