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travel
news review
3
March '99
Rwandan
Hutu guerillas in southwestern Uganda who abducted 17 tourists tracking
the region's rare mountain gorillas have killed eight of the kidnapped
tourists and four Ugandan tour guides. Of the tourists who died, four
were British, two were American and two were from New Zealand.
A large group of armed kidnappers, based in the border region near the
Democratic Republic of Congo, attacked the Buhoma camping site at the
northern entrance of the Bwindi National Park. Seven other tourists escaped,
including a French diplomat, while others were subsequently released.
The kidnapping was designed to send a message to the West to halt dealings
with the Ugandan government. The rebels are angry at Uganda's support
for the Tutsi government of Rwanda, responsible for large-scale massacres
of Hutus.
28 September '98
The World Health Organisation has reported a significant decrease in the
number of cholera cases in Uganda. A total of 43,911 cases and 1777 deaths
from cholera have been reported in Uganda since an epidemic started here
in 1997. In the central area of Uganda and around the capital Kampala
the outbreak has been controlled almost completely, but cases are still
being reported in other parts of the country.
Cholera produces a particularly severe watery diarrhoea, and suffers
can lose up to 20 litres (5 gallons) of water a day - rehydration is vitally
important. While the risk of contracting the disease is minimal, travellers
are advised to take extra health precautions in Arua and Moyo in the Northern
Region, Kamuli in the Eastern Region and Bushenyi in the Western Region.
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