The police in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State recovered some relief items looted from a truck hired by humanitarian agencies that overturned and caught fire on Wednesday morning in Aweil Town.
The state police spokesperson Captain Guot Guot Akol told Radio Tamazuj that the accident happened in the Kuom suburb, south of Aweil town.
“What happened today (Wednesday) morning around 10 am, there was a truck belonging to Damei Trading Company Limited and was contracted by the World Food Program to bring relief items from Juba to Aweil. But when it arrived at Aba Ilb roundabout the front wheel exploded according to the driver and the truck overturned in the middle of the road and caught fire,” Guot explained.
The police official said the locals rescued the driver and his assistant but also looted some food items.
“It was carrying 500 bags of sorghum and 1,000 packages of nutrition quantities for small children. The Somali driver Mohammed Khalifa, 32, and his assistant Yosif Ali, 23, were rescued by nearby locals. The citizens looted some items but the police have recovered 36 bags of sorghum and 83 cartons of nutrition items, others were destroyed,” he added.
Guot noted that the police are still combing the area to recover more stolen food that will also be handed over to WFP.
Major Yai Ater Malith, traffic police operations officer in the state State traffic police said the accident was caused by speeding.
“The Somali truck overturned at the Aba Ilb roundabout because it was at high speed and the driver didn’t know that the road is curved. There was no death recorded but the driver has sustained minor injuries,” he said.