Blast kills eight children in Sudan: police

Khartoum: Eight children were killed on Saturday in the Sudanese city of Omdurman when an unidentified object they found exploded, a police spokesman told AFP.

Seven children were killed on the spot while the eighth one died of wounds at a hospital, General Hashim Abdelrahim said.

He said the children, who were thought to be searching for scrap, which they later sell, came across a "strange object" which "exploded" when they handled it.

The area where the incident took place in north Omdurman hosted a military facility several years ago.

Sudanese state media confirmed that eight children had died in a blast. It did not offer details.

Abdelrahim said the police were investigating the incident.

Many school-aged children often have to resort to menial jobs to earn a living amid a worsening economic crisis that has seen food prices soar.

The economic crisis has triggered nationwide protests for more than three months against the rule of President Omar al-Bashir.

Bashir has remained defiant, and imposed a nationwide state of emergency on February 22 to quell the demonstrations seen as the biggest challenge to his three-decade rule.