The East African country has been deluged by heavy rains in the past few days, with the government issuing a national disaster alert after reports of flooding and landslides.

Masugu village in eastern Bulambuli district, some five hours from the capital, Kampala, was hit by landslides late on Wednesday.

Images on local media showing huge swathes of fallen earth covering the land.

"We lost about 30 people," district commissioner Faheera Mpalanyi told AFP.

She added that six bodies, including that of a baby, had been recovered so far.

"Given the devastation and the size of the area affected and from what the affected families are telling us, several people are missing and probably buried in the debris," she said.

Ugandan Red Cross spokesperson John Cliff Wamala said "13 bodies have been recovered", adding that multiple villages were affected in the district.

He said as many as 40 homes had been "completely destroyed, with others sustaining partial damage".

- 'Disaster situations' -

The scale and precise location of the multiple landslides was unclear.

Videos and photographs shared on social media purported to show people digging for survivors in Kimono village, also in Bulambuli district.

The Ugandan prime minister's office issued an alert, writing on X: "Heavy rains on Wednesday in parts of Uganda have led to disaster situations in many areas."

The heavy rains in recent days caused flooding in the northwest after a tributary of the Nile River burst its banks.

Emergency teams were sent to rescue stranded motorists.

A major road connecting the country with South Sudan was impassable late on Wednesday, with emergency boat crews deployed near the town of Pakwach.

"Unfortunately, one of the boats capsized, resulting in the death of one engineer," Uganda's defence forces said on X.

The deadliest landslide in Africa was in Sierra Leone's capital in Freetown in August 2017, when 1,141 people perished.

Mudslides in the Mount Elgon region of eastern Uganda killed more than 350 people in February 2010.

Earlier this year, more than 30 died in Kampala after a massive rubbish landslide.