Five killed as fire sweeps through Bosaso camp

Five people are reported to have been killed when fire swept through a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Bosaso, the commercial capital of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland.

Mukhtar Sa'id of the Bosaso-based Midnimo radio said the fire broke out at the Buulo Elay camp on Wednesday, destroying at least 1,000 dwellings, as well as the personal belongings and household items of some 1,200 families living there.

The cause of the fire has not yet been established but Mukhtar told IRIN it was probably caused by cooking fire. He said local officials and aid workers immediately visited the scene to assess the damage and help the victims.

The dead included three children, one woman and a disabled man, he added.

According to UNICEF-Somalia, initial assessments suggest about half the camp has been razed to the ground and some 600 families are homeless as a result. UNICEF and the World Food Programme (WFP) have both sent in assistance, such as food, plastic sheeting, jerry cans, cooking pots and blankets.

Most of the estimated 28,000 IDPs in the Bosaso area come from southern regions of Somalia, fleeing insecurity at home.

A UN-appointed independent expert on human rights for Somalia, Dr Ghanim Alnajjar, who visited the Buulo Elay camp last year, said the IDPs were living in "sub-human conditions", which were among the worst he had ever seen.