17 children missing after fire breaks out in North Darfur village

05/06/2015 21:32

A huge fire that broke out today in the village of Koto, near Tabit in Tawila locality, destroyed hundreds of houses. After the fire, the villagers discovered that 17 children were missing.
“Some 500 houses burned to ashes,” a villager told Radio Dabanga from Koto. “But much worse is that 17 children aged between 5 and 7 years, went missing in the panic. We do not know if they burned to death, or are hiding somewhere.”

A huge fire that broke out today in the village of Koto, near Tabit in Tawila locality, destroyed hundreds of houses. After the fire, the villagers discovered that 17 children were missing.

“Some 500 houses burned to ashes,” a villager told Radio Dabanga from Koto. “But much worse is that 17 children aged between 5 and 7 years, went missing in the panic. We do not know if they burned to death, or are hiding somewhere.”

He added that some 250 lambs, 100 donkeys, and a large number of poultry burned to death. “We lost large quantities of stored food too.”

The villager said that the fire broke out at around 3 o’clock this (Friday) afternoon. “It spread extremely fast, because of the winds.

“A number of the affected families are now camping in the open, after having lost everything they owned. Others have sought refuge in Tabit.”

He appealed to the authorities and relief organisations to provide assistance to the affected “as soon as possible”.