At least 40 people were killed and several others reported missing after a landslide buried houses in eastern Uganda overnight, a minister said yesterday.

"Over 40 bodies have been recovered but we are told many are still missing. We have brought reinforcement and rescuers to the place," Musa Ecweru, State Minister for Disaster Preparedness, toldAFP.

The landslide in a mountainous region near the eastern town of Mbale was triggered by heavy rains that have deluged the area in the past week, Ecweru said.