A huge fire tore through the main market place at Yida refugee camp in northern Unity State on Thursday, destroying dozens of shops and houses.

Residents and witnesses said the blaze started at a restaurant near the center of a market, possibly jumping from an open charcoal stove to one of the grass-thatched buildings, according to Nuba Reports.

More than 100 shops and 30 houses were destroyed, the same organization reported, adding that Chief of the Daloka community Hamdan Tia was injured in the blaze. 

Witnesses said Tia was trying to put out the fire when a barrel of fuel in one of the burning shops exploded. Fuel supplies, commodities, clothing and produce were destroyed in the blaze. 

Photo: A fire in Yida refugee camp, 13 March 2014 (Radio Tamazuj)