Six people have died and dozens are missing after heavy rains triggered a series of landslides in eastern Uganda's mountainous Bududa district, the Red Cross said on Wednesday.

The organisation said that around 50 people were believed missing and 150 houses destroyed after the landslides on Tuesday night in the foothills of Mount Elgon –– an extinct volcano with five major peaks.

More than 30 families were affected, but local authorities are yet to assess the situation in Bukalasi, according to local police. 

More deaths were likely due to continuing rainfall and the likelihood of pneumonia in children as well as outbreaks of cholera and diarrhoeal disease, the Red Cross said.

Buwali and Bukalasi were last October affected by landslides, leaving about 38 people dead and hundreds displaced.

(Cover: People search for bodies at a landslide site in Shisakali village of Bududa district, eastern Uganda, June 5, 2019./ VCG Photo)

(with input from agencies)