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LEER - 24 Mar 2015

S Sudan: seven killed in Unity munitions blast

Seven men were killed when a container full of munitions leftover from last year's fighting exploded near Thar Jath, southern Unity State last Thursday.

A fourteen-year-old boy was also injured, according to a statement from medical charity Doctors Without Borders-Medicins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

The boy was treated for multiple lacerations in Leer some 40 km away from the incident, MSF said.

"It seems likely that local people set fire to the grass around the container – a traditional method of clearing land in preparation for farming," the statement read, causing the ammunition inside to overheat and explode.

Local radio had been warning people about the potential dangers of burning grass around the container, according to the injured boy's father.

Related:

Four Abyei teens killed in grenade accident (Mar. 7)