NAIROBI, Kenya — A landslide after heavy rains in an eastern area of the Democratic Republic of Congo has killed dozens of people, and possibly as many as 200, according to an estimate of the number of households buried by tons of mud, an official said Saturday.

The landslide buried about 50 households in the fishing village of Tora, in Ituri Province on the shores of Lake Albert in the Western Rift Valley, said Pacifique Keta, the vice governor of Ituri Province. He said he feared that as many as 200 people had died.

So far, at least 50 bodies have been recovered with the help of Red Cross workers, Mr. Keta said by telephone. He added that he had asked the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Congo to help with the recovery efforts because the area is difficult to get to. “It is very mountainous,” he said.

The landslide started early Wednesday after a night of heavy rain, said Jules Tsuba, the president of a local civil society group. “The mountain swallowed more than 100 people and destroyed properties and animals,” he said. “The government promised to do something about it, but nothing has been done since.”