Hundreds Drown in South Sudan Ferry Sinking

South Sudan army spokesman said over 200 civilians have drowned in a ferry accident on the White Nile river while attempting to flee the fighting.

Army spokesman Philip Aguer said on Tuesday that a boat had been overloaded with people trying to escape the violence with 200 to 300 people including women and children. Aguer said they all drowned while escaping from the fighting that broke out in Malakal.

Battles raged in several cities in South Sudan on Tuesday with heavy fighting reported in Malakal, the capital of oil-producing Upper Nile state, as rebel forces placed a fresh attack to take control of the town.

The control over Malakal has already changed hands twice since the conflict in South Sudan began on December 15, Aljazeera.net reported

United Nations aid chief for South Sudan, Toby Lanzer, said that there is a new fighting in and around Malakal, adding that the peacekeeping base had been swamped with almost double the number of people seeking shelter, rising from 10,000 to 19,000.

Army troops reported heavy fighting south of Bor, as the government sought to regain the town from rebels.

Aguer said they are marching towards Bor with heavy fighting late on Monday. Aguer
however, rejected rebel claims they captured the river port of Mongalla, situated between Bor and the capital Juba. He said they are located north of Mongalla and remain in full control of it.

The fighting is between South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar.

With the ensuing violence, the United Nations has said about 400,000 civilians have fled their homes over the past month.

Source: Aljazeera.net