South Sudan, Leer, March 21 2015
14-year old Kume Saadi Kuony was just seeking some shade from South Sudan’s scorching sun when disaster struck. What Kume did not kn 14-year old Kume Saadi Kuony recovers from his wounds at the MSF hospital in Leer. He was injured when a container full of unexploded ordnance exploded. It appears that people in the area had set fire to the grass around the container which is a traditional method of clearing and preparing the land for farming. Kume’s father is sitting on his bed. ow was that the container sheltering him from the midday heat in the village of Gayiel near Thar Jaat in Unity state was full of unexploded ordnance disposed there following heavy fighting in the area last year. The container suddenly exploded, injuring Kume and killing the seven men with him. Seriously injured Kume was quickly taken by villagers in a car to the MSF-managed hospital in Leer 40 kilometers away where he arrived on 19 March. “What seems to have happened is that the ordnance exploded on the ground throwing up dirt, soil and grass which buried itself in the boy’s body leaving him with multiple lacerations”, explained Dr. Fouad Dahir, MSF deputy medical coordinator in South Sudan who treated the boy at Leer hospital. “He had wounds all over his body from the shoulders down to his feet but mostly on the legs. When he arrived we disinfected, dressed and bandaged the wounds and stabilized the boy. A day later we surgically removed the foreign objects from the wounds and cleared away the dead tissue under general anesthetics. We also gave him antibiotics for his infection and will keep him here for another week to regularly change the dressing and make sure the wounds heal properly.” The exact sequence of events that set off the explosion is difficult to establish since Kume himself is still too weak to talk about the incident. But it appears that people in the area had set fire to the grass around the container which is a traditional method of clearing and preparing the land for farming. Seemingly the grass underneath the container which was propped up on bricks also burned. Kume’s father, Yoak Saadi, who had sent him from Leer to stay with relatives in Gayiel said that people had been warned: “Local radio had reported that this container could be dangerous and that people shou