Blast Kills Eight Children in Sudan, Police Say

Blast Kills Eight Children in Sudan, Police Say

Eight children were killed on Saturday in the Sudanese city of Omdurman when an unidentified object they found exploded, a police spokesman told AFP, VOA news reports.

Seven children were killed on the spot, while the eighth one died of wounds at a hospital, Gen. Hashim Abdelrahim said.

He said the children, who were thought to be searching for scrap that they later sell, came across a “strange object” that “exploded” when they handled it.

The area where the incident took place in north Omdurman hosted a military facility several years ago.

Sudanese state media confirmed that eight children had died in a blast. It did not offer details.

Abdelrahim said police were investigating the incident.

Many school-age children often have to resort to menial jobs to earn a living amid a worsening economic crisis that has seen food prices soar.

The economic crisis has triggered nationwide protests for more than three months against the rule of President Omar al-Bashir.

Bashir has remained defiant. He imposed a nationwide state of emergency on Feb. 22 to quell the demonstrations, seen as the biggest challenge to his three-decade rule.