Welsh GP at Uganda landslides says it is 'like Aberfan'

Members of the military and civilians search for survivors after the landslides, which are thought to have killed more than 100 school pupils

A Welsh GP at the scene of landslides in Uganda that have killed an estimated 350 people said the parallels with the Aberfan disaster are "striking".

Eyewitnesses claim more than 100 school pupils sheltering in a small building, died when it was engulfed by the mud.

Dr Geoff Lloyd, from Pontypridd, is at the eastern town of Bududa for Pont, a Wales-Uganda community partnership.

He said: "The side of a mountain has come away wiping out a whole school of children."

He added: "I remember as a young boy watching emergency vehicles rush through Cilfynydd on the way to Aberfan, with so many people wanting to help.

"Now the same thing has happened to our twin community in Africa."

Pont, a community partnership between Rhondda Cynon Taf, the University of Glamorgan and Mbale in Uganda, has started a disaster emergency relief fund.

Sadly we were not in time to prevent this disaster, but will do everything we can to stop similar incidents in future Professor Hilary Thomas, University of Glamorgan

More than 300 people are feared dead after heavy rain caused a series of landslides in the mountainous eastern region, sweeping away three villages.

So far, 90 bodies have been recovered but more than 260 people are still missing.

The landslides were triggered by several days of unusually heavy rain.

The region, about 275km (170 miles) north-east of the capital Kampala, often suffers from landslides but this is an unusually high death toll.

Pont claims more than 20,000 have been made homeless by the landslides and the resulting flooding.

'Vulnerable regions'

Its appeal is headed by Professor Hilary Thomas, a visiting professor at the University of Glamorgan, who heads Pont's environment committee.

Prof Thomas said: "We always knew there was potential for such a disaster in this area, and have been working with the University of Glamorgan to identify the most vulnerable regions.

"Sadly we were not in time to prevent this disaster, but will do everything we can to stop similar incidents in future."

In the Aberfan disaster in south Wales in October 1966, a total of 144 people died, including 116 school children, when coal slurry slid on to the village school and 18 homes.

Wales' First Minister Carwyn Jones has expressed sympathy for the people of Mbale region of Uganda.

He launched a long-term partnership between Wales and the Mbale region at the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen in December, which aims to help the region respond to climate change.

'Tree cover'

One aspect of the work will be to plant 120,000 trees a year, 40,000 of which are to go to the Bududa region.

The partnership is a collaboration between Wales, Mbale, the UN Development Programme and the UK Department for International Development.

He said: "This terrible landslide, demonstrates the vulnerability of the people of Mbale to changes in their environment.

"I am confident that the local NGOs in Mbale, with which we are partnered, will be able to respond quickly to this disaster and then begin the long-term work to increase the tree cover in the region."