Fire breaks out at South Sudan census office in Juba
By Mayen Deng
April 28, 2007 (JUBA) — A Fire broke out yesterday morning around 8:00 AM at the office of the Chairman of Southern Sudan Census, Statistics and Evaluation Commission in Juba, causing huge damage to the building and in equipments, estimated at hundred of thousands of US Dollars.
The inside of the prefabricated building was engulfed in flames and thick smoke was seen coming out of the main entrance and windows just less than an hour before senior staff including the office secretary were due to arrive for work.
The Chairman of the commission, who was in Khartoum on official duty, arrived two hours later and inspected the scene around 11:30 A.M.
The partially incinerated building was a prefabricated structure made up of five segments.
The fire brigade arrived at the scene around 10:30 A.M. and managed to extinguish the flames.
No one was hurt in the incident and initial police investigations have ruled out foul play with an electric short circuit being suggested as the likely cause.
(ST)