A landslide in eastern Uganda has killed eighteen people.

Six others were seriously injured in the province of Manjija. Many of the dead are reported to have been children. Local officials say the landslide, which happened yesterday after heavy rain, also destroyed an important bridge and large numbers of houses.

Many of the homeless are now said to be sheltering in primary schools.

A local elder told the BBC that crops and livestock had also been lost.

Two years ago, a landslide in the same area killed more than forty people.