Wildfire kills 54 people in South Sudan

No fewer than 54 people were killed while 18 others were injured when a wildfire raged through a village in Northern South Sudan.

“The fire broke out in the village of Korok in Lol State on Sunday,’’ the state’s deputy governor, Mawein Akook, told dpa on Tuesday via telephone.

According to Akook, most residents were asleep when the fire burned down most huts in the village, and most victims were women, children and elderly people.

“No fewer than 14 people sustained first-degree burns,’’ the deputy governor added. 

Farms and livestock were also destroyed in fire, while dozens of residents fled the area to neighbouring villages. The cause of the fire remained unknown.