Rumbek, South Sudan, Apr 7, 2019 / 15:30 pm
After a fire killed three young girls at a Catholic girls boarding school in South Sudan last month, the local Catholic diocese and state government have announced that they plan to repay the two families of the girls with 93 cows, a customary form of bereavement compensation in the country.
According to the Catholic News Agency for Africa (CANAA), the fire occurred late at night on Thursday, March 21, around 11:00. One dormitory, in which the three girls died, was badly burned and still smoldering after the fire was contained, reports said.
Hellena Amou, age 8; Deborah Angeth Dor, age 7; and Angelina Angeth Mou, age 6, died in the fire; their bodies were found in their dorms "still in the sleeping position," reports indicated, and their mattresses and furniture were badly burned. The rest of the 100 boarders at the dormitory escaped unharmed, reports said.
The fire took place at the primary boarding school at the Sacred Heart Parish, Don Bosco Mission of Tonj in the Rumbek Diocese of South Sudan. Sr. Clare Nakhumicha Wekesa, who heads the order of the Sisters of Mary of Kakamega in charge of the dormitory, was released by local authorities after being detained for a week following the incident.