Over 200 houses burnt down in eastern Sudan

ALQADARIF, Sudan, May 13, 2005 (Sudan Tribune) — A child was killed and another seriously injured following a fire that broke out in Al-Tadhamun village in Al-Qadarif State, eastern Sudan, yesterday morning.

Sixty houses were burnt down by the fire and tens of families were left homeless and a number of livestock dispersed. The losses had not yet been estimated, the Sudanese newspaper Alwan reported.

Another fire was also reported in Ruwayna village north of Al-Qadarif which destroyed 150 houses and a lorry.

A market in Al-Qadarif State was also destroyed by fire which burnt down 14 stalls. The losses were estimated at 150m Sudanese pounds (60,000 US dollar).

The chairman of the market said that he had no knowledge of what caused the fire.

A number of other villages in the state were also destroyed by fire and the causes of the fires was not yet known.

It is noted that Al-Qadarif State had witnessed a series of fires in the past week. The losses were estimated at 500m Sudanese pounds.

Investigations are under way to know the reasons behind the fires

Material provided by the BBC Monitoring Service.