KAMPALA, Uganda

At least 113 people are still unaccounted for as the death toll from massive landslides in eastern Uganda has risen to 15, according to the police. 

Police said in a statement: "Efforts are underway to locate the missing people."

A total of 15 bodies had been retrieved so far and 15 injured people had been admitted to hospital, it added.

The landslides triggered by heavy rainfall buried over 40 houses in six villages in the Bulambuli district, eastern Uganda.

Authorities said more bodies could be trapped under the mud after torrential rains.

Search and rescue operations by local residents, the Uganda Red Cross, police, the National Roads Authority, and the military have been continuing, according to police spokesperson Kituuma Rusoke.

Rivers have burst their banks, flooding schools and churches, destroying bridges, and isolating communities.

This is not the first time landslides hit the district. Over the past 10 years, more than 1,000 people have been killed by multiple landslides in this area.

The region has been experiencing erratic patterns of rainfall due to climate change and rising temperatures.