At least 15 people, mainly women and children, died in a landslide in a western Ugandan town Wednesday after the area was battered by heavy rains, the Red Cross said.

The disaster in the town of Kasese on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo has left an unknown number of people missing and wiped out homes.

"15 bodies now. Majority are women and children," Red Cross spokeswoman Irene Nakasiita said in a briefing to the media. "Response action teams are still on the ground and the rescue mission is still ongoing."

Nakasiita said the exact number of missing was not known, but that six people had been injured and taken to hospital.

Grisly photographs shared by the Red Cross showed some bodies stuck under collapsed houses, and at least one body carried away by the fast-flowing water.

Heavy rains in the neighbouring district of Bundibugyo had killed three people last Friday and left several injured.

At least 22 people were killed in the eastern Ugandan town of Mbale after flash floods hit at the end of July, leading to mudslides that inflicted widespread damage and left hundreds of residents homeless.

In 2020 alone, eight people died in Kasese after heavy rains caused a river to burst its banks.