Aerial view of Juba city. (Photo: Charles Wote).

JUBA, (Eye Radio) – Two children both aged three years suffocated and died inside a defective immobile vehicle at the Dar el Salam residential area in Juba on Sunday, an eyewitness said.

The Chief of Dar el Salam Hakim Bali Malish told Eye Radio on Tuesday that the children – identified as Daniel Khalil and Samuel Batali – accidentally locked themselves inside the car while playing on April 27.

Bali said after the faulty car’s windows shut, the minors were unable to breathe and failed to draw outside attention. He said one child died immediately, while the other passed away shortly after being rushed to a health facility.

According to him, the children went missing on Saturday, prompting the families to search for them at all the police stations, in vain. It wasn’t until later in the afternoon that a relative found them in a car located about 100 meters from their home.

“On Sunday, 27 April, there are two children went missing from the house in Dar el Salam and the family missed them. After efforts from the family in all the police stations in Juba,” he narrated.

“They did not found them and they are neighbors. At around 4pm, one of the family members found them in a broken car with number plate SSD 413 BD at the distance of 100 meters. They found the other is not longer alive and other is suffering from suffocation and he died in the hospital.”

When contacted on Monday, the police spokesperson said he was yet to receive official report. his is the second time that children die of suffocation inside a broken car in one month.

In March, Lakes State police said two children suffocated to death after they were locked for hours inside an old abandoned vehicle where they were playing near the Civil Defense headquarters in Rumbek.

Acting police commissioner Maj. Gen. Enock Majok Machar said the bodies of the minors aged 5 and 8 years, were found on March 12, and two fire brigade officers found on duty were detained for questioning as part of an investigation.

Gen. Majok said the death of the children by suffocation came after their parents exhaustively searched for them in vain. He said fire brigade soldiers found them in the Nissan Xtrial.