Religious Leaders Lead Prayers for Hope,Healing at Landslide Site in Bulambuli

Families and community members gathered at the landslide site in Butandiga Subcounty, Bulambuli District, for an emotional ecumenical prayer service aimed at offering solace and comfort to those affected by the disaster.

The joint service was led by Msgr. Christopher Emuseef, Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Tororo, alongside the Deputy District Kadhi, as residents mourned their loved ones and prayed for those still missing.

The landslide, which struck several villages in November 2024, left 49 confirmed dead, with many others still unaccounted for and hundreds displaced.

The devastation has taken a heavy toll on survivors, many of whom continue to search for missing relatives.

“We are still in shock and yet to recover from this tragedy,” said Ignatius Mudimi, MP for Elgon County, expressing the community’s sorrow.

Every day, families return to the disaster site, clinging to hope that they might recover the remains of their loved ones.

A woman in her late 60s, whose only sister perished in the landslide, has found some of her sister’s belongings but is still searching for her body.

“I have found her clothes and some food items from the house,” she said, fighting back tears. “I believe her body is within reach.”

For Nyasio Namisi, the tragedy was overwhelming—he lost 40 relatives, including his mother, children, and siblings.

“We have recovered 25 bodies, but the rest are still buried underground,” he said.

Similarly, Mazune Michael, another survivor, lost six children but has only managed to recover two of their bodies.

For over two months, teams from the Uganda Red Cross, local residents, and army officers, using heavy excavators provided by the Office of the Prime Minister, have been working tirelessly at the site. So far, 49 bodies have been recovered.

Despite an initial one-month search operation and a 15-day extension granted by the government, progress has been hampered by hardened ground and massive rubble.

Families are now pleading for more time, but authorities have raised concerns over the deteriorating condition of the bodies, many of which are in an advanced state of decomposition, making identification possible only through DNA testing.

Elgon County MP Ignatius Mudimi has called for an additional one-month extension.

“There are still many bodies underground. If the search continues for another month, we may recover more remains,” he said. “All we want is for families to bury their loved ones.”

The ecumenical prayer service provided a much-needed source of hope for the grieving community, as they continue their desperate search for missing relatives more than two months after the disaster.