Search for Rwanda quake survivors

Some of the survivors have been air-lifted to Rwanda's capital, Kigali

Many people remain trapped under rubble in Rwanda after a series of earthquakes hit the Great Lakes region, police say.

They fear more people will die. At least 40 were killed in Rwanda and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo after Sunday's quakes.

Many people spent Sunday night sleeping in the open in the DR Congo town of Bukavu in case of further tremors.

At least 10 people were killed in Rwanda's western Rusizi district when a church collapsed during Sunday mass.

Bukavu mayor Guillaume Bonga told the AFP news agency that there were several aftershocks overnight but he said there were no new victims.

More than 300 people were injured by the most powerful earthquakes, which had magnitudes of 6.0 and 5.0.

Officials said 34 people had died in Rwanda and six in DR Congo.

Jacqueline Chenard from the UN's peacekeeping mission in DR Congo (Monuc) was in Bukavu when the quake struck.

"There was panic all over town. People started running around, crying," she told the BBC's Network Africa programme.

The quakes were also felt in neighbouring Burundi, disrupting hydroelectric power and causing a half-hour electricity cut.

A powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the region in December 2005.

But while it is prone to seismic activity, it has mostly escaped major quakes in recent years.