The Long Wait: Agony and tears seep into the rubble that conceals Kiteezi's missing victims

Families of landslide victims endure an excruciating wait, clinging to fading hope as days pass without finding their loved ones.

The relatives of those lost in the catastrophic landslide endure an agonizing wait, each day a torment, as they desperately cling to the hope that their loved ones’ bodies will be found.

These days are drenched in sorrow, frustration, and the unbearable weight of uncertainty, leaving deep emotional scars on everyone involved.

Patricia Namukwaya, just 17 years old, stands as the pillar for her younger siblings in a world that has been torn apart.

For the past 12 days, these children have called a temporary camp their home after the landslide buried their past under rubble and despair.

Patricia, her 13-year-old brother, a 7-year-old sister, and a 4-year-old sibling are now homeless.

Their mother, Nakamya Jacklyn, was swallowed by the earth in a disaster that left them not only without shelter but without the warmth of her love.

“I got here at 11 a.m. All the houses were gone, buried under mountains of debris. The survivors told us that Mum was buried too,” Patricia whispers, her voice trembling with the weight of grief.

When the earth gave way, Patricia and her siblings were safe at their grandmother's house, spared from the immediate horror.

Yet, they have since been imprisoned in a relentless agony, waiting, hoping, pleading with fate for their mother’s body to be retrieved.

Each passing day without news is another wound carved into their hearts.

“They are consoling us, still digging... but the days... they just keep slipping by,” Patricia adds, her words heavy with despair.

In another corner of the camp, Madina Nagawa has been there since last Tuesday, her heart caught in a torturous limbo.

She waits for any sign of her 26-year-old daughter, Aisha, who had been living in Kiteezi for a year and a half before the earth claimed her.

Nagawa holds on to hope, a fragile thread that is all she has left, praying that the rescue teams will find her daughter, praying that she won’t be left with just memories and empty arms.

Martin Jjemba waits too, each second a dagger of uncertainty. His mother remains trapped under the crushing weight of Lusanjja’s garbage collapse.

His only solace would be to hold her, even in death, to give her the burial she deserves, to say goodbye.

“We bear the pain, but the only thing that will bring us peace is to see her body,” Jjemba says, his voice breaking under the strain.

The endless waiting has forced his family into financial hardship, with funeral preparations dragging on indefinitely, compounding their anguish.

“You have to feed the people, you don’t know when this waiting will end. It’s unbearable.”

With every body that is recovered, these families hold their breath, hearts pounding with the desperate hope that today might be the day they can finally lay their loved ones to rest.

But for Namukwaya’s family, the pain only deepens, the loss more profound with each passing hour.

So far, 35 bodies have been pulled from the wreckage, their families given the bittersweet gift of recognition.

But for those still waiting, the agony continues, an endless nightmare from which there seems no waking.

Search continues

The search and recovery operations at the Kiteezi landfill, where a devastating landslide occurred, have been both challenging and heartbreaking.

According to Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango, the operations have continued in full force despite numerous difficulties.

On Wednesday, SSP Onyango urged the relatives of those still unaccounted for to remain patient and hopeful as the recovery efforts continue.

"We call upon the relatives of the people that the team has not retrieved their loved ones to be calm and patient as the work of retrieving dead bodies goes on. They should not lose hope; we are with them," Onyango stated.

The operation, which started at dawn each day, is an intense effort to bring closure to the families who are waiting in anguish for news of their loved ones.

In addition to the recovery of bodies, the humanitarian crisis at the site is escalating.

The number of displaced individuals seeking refuge in makeshift shelters has increased, placing immense strain on resources.

The Red Cross has highlighted the urgent need for more supplies, including mattresses, as many people only have blankets and bedsheets for comfort.