Eleven children were reportedly killed and one injured in an accident involving unexploded ordnance in South Sudan.
According to the spokeswoman for the UN mission in the violence-wracked country (UNMISS), Linda Tom, the accident occurred on Thursday in a remote village in Western Bahr el-Ghazal state, northwest of the capital Juba.
“As many as 11 children died and one is still receiving medical treatment,” Tom said.
“The scale of this drama is immense, we convey our deepest condolences to the families of the victims,” she added.
South Sudan was plunged into a brutal civil war in 2013, two years after achieving independence from Sudan.
The conflict lasted five years and killed nearly 400,000 civilians before the warring leaders Salva Kiir and Riek Machar agreed to lay down their arms.
Landmines and unexploded bombs still cover large areas of the world’s youngest country, posing yet another threat to a population already grappling with armed violence, natural disasters and hunger.
