Suspected landmine. (Courtesy).

At least eight children were killed and two others remain critically injured in Western Bahr el Ghazal when an explosive ordnance that they were playing with exploded.

The state police commissioner Major General Samuel Ajuong Chuwar told Eye Radio that the explosion occurred on Thursday morning at Jebel Mile in Jur River County.

“The preliminary reports said eight died and this is as a result of landmine,” he narrated.

“The civilians were under a mango tree collecting mangoes and the incident occurred killing eight of them, and the area is very far, and we have sent our police to see what had happened there.”

Lino Urayo, an eye witness told Eye Radio that the children had gathered to collect mangoes when they found the unexploded ordnance that they knew nothing.

It then went off, killing the children and seriously injuring other a couple of others.

“The children don’t know about the bomb, they found it on the ground and started playing with it till it exploded. The situation of those wounded is very serious,” Urayo said.

“The bomb was in the area during the Arab civil war and now we need the people of de-mining to come and assess the area with bombs because since then, there was no de-mining done there, we are worry maybe there are some UXOs in the areas.”