A fire has destroyed over 20 barrels of fuel in Malakal town on Thursday, authorities in Upper Nile State have said.

The fire started at around 6 PM shortly after the owner of the shop, Angui Ahoch closed the store.

The state minister of information, Luke Saallah Deng says over 20 barrels of fuel, a motorcycle and other goods got burned after the fire incident.

Saallah says no injuries were reported in the blaze, the cause of which remains under investigation.

“There was a container being used as a fuel store that is close to the city council, formerly the place was used by UNICEF. The store has more than 20 barrels of fuel, it is a mixture of petrol diesel and petrol,” Saallah said.

“The owner of the store opened the store and took some fuel in a Jerrycan. I think during the process of taking the fuel there were droplets of petrol and there were women cooking around the area, we believe that was the cause of the fire.”

Saallah added that UNMISS FireFighters extinguished the fire, but, by that time the fuel store and some nearby properties had been damaged.