Eight children were killed in Jur River County in Western Bahr al Ghazal State when a mortar round they were playing with exploded today morning, police and an eyewitness said.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj this afternoon, State Police Commissioner Major General Samuel Ajuong Chwar said all the children were teenagers.
“The incident happened in Jebel Mile, and the preliminary reports said eight children have died, and this is a result of the sudden blast,” said Ajuong.
“People were under a mango tree collecting mangos, and the incident occurred. Eight people have died. The area is very far, but we have sent our police personnel to see what happened there,” he added.
Meanwhile, Lino Urayo, an eyewitness, said: “Two children sustained serious injuries and are being taken to hospital for treatment.”
According to the eyewitness, the motor shell exploded when the children mistook it for a toy.
“The children did not know about it. They found it on the ground and started playing with it until it exploded,” Lino said. “I think the bomb was used during the Sudanese civil war, and now we need the people of demining to come and access the area because since then, there has been no demining done. We are very worried that maybe there are many bombs here.”
Jur River County Commissioner James Bak also confirmed the incident and said investigations would be carried out.
Children are often killed or maimed by explosive devices left over from decades of the Sudanese conflict before South Sudan’s independence, carelessly discarded, or deliberately planted.
The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) has reportedly destroyed 1,091,968 explosive devices in South Sudan. But today’s incident highlights the challenge of deadly weapons in areas like Jur River County.