Two children dead after fire gutted grass-thatched house in Aweil

Two children have been confirmed dead on Tuesday after fire gutted a grass-thatched house they were sleeping in at Mangok payam in Aweil East county of Northern Bahr El Gazal state.

 Maj. Garang Mayen, the inspector of police inspector in Mangok payam said that incident happened when the mother of the two children aged 13 and 11 left them at home with their grandmother.

Mayen said that the grandmother on the fateful Tuesday night had left for the neighbor’s house to buy cigarettes when the fire gutted the house in which the children were sleeping in

“The grandmother left the minors in the grass-thatched house where there was a burning wood meant to warm the house and in the absence of the two adults the fire from the wood spread to the entire house,” Mayen told Juba Echo on Thursday in Mangok payam.

He disclosed that the grass thatched house was locked from outside by the grandmother of the children which made it difficult for them to survive the fire.

The mother of the two children Anguet Agat Aluk and her mother are being held by police for being negligent with their children.

Akeen Geng Dut, the administrator of Mangok payam called on parents to avoid warming their houses with wood.

“I want to appeal to the people to know that this dry season is dangerous. As children play with fire and wind blows easily so it is common knowledge that it puts people at great disadvantage,” he said.

Dut said that the mother of the kids and their grandmother will be arraigned in the court to answer for their negligence.

In a similar earlier incident, fire gutted Maper-Akot-Aru market in Aweil town leaving traders counting heavy losses.