Explosion leaves 3 children dead in Warrap

November 5, 2012 (JUBA) – An explosion in Warrap State has killed three children leaving another in critical condition after sustaining multiple injuries, local authorities told Sudan Tribune on Sunday.

The blast was believed to have been triggered by a land mine, sometimes known as un-exploded ordinance, left over from the civil war that led to South Sudan’s independence from Sudan last year.

“This is a tragedy. Three innocent children have died and one has been seriously wounded“, Twic County Commissioner Malek Ring Makuei said on Sunday.

“We will continue our efforts to educate civilians about mines and help to prevent these accidents”, he said. The official explained that his administration supports mine-awareness campaigns, including media announcements, to help educate the local population about the dangers of mines.

The county authority has also put up billboards and provided comic books and pamphlets to local officials to disseminate information to the population to warn them of the danger.

Commissioner Makuei said the explosion took place in Mayen Abun Payam on Friday evening at around 4pm when children tried to play with the unexploded ordnance which they found water around point.

“The tragic incident happened in Mayen Abun payam [district] on Friday evening at around 4pm” when the group of children were playing together the commissioner said.

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the incident and local authorities believe the explosive may have been planted during the two-decade North-South civil war in which an estimated 2 million lives were lost.

around four million people were uprooted from their ancestral homes during the conflict. Most of whom became internal displaced persons in the north where many ended up living in temporary shacks until when the two sides signed the 2005 peace agreement which culminated in the secession of South Sudan from the rest of the country in July 2011.

(ST)