Saturday, September 03, 2011
The incident took place on Friday in the Baray district on the outskirts of Jowhar town, around 90 kilometers north of Mogadishu.
More than 790 houses were destroyed by the fire and hundreds of families were left homeless.
The fire death toll comes as insecurity, famine and disease claim more lives in the Horn of Africa country.
At least 28 people were killed in 30 others injured in the battle between militants and military forces of the semi-autonomous Puntland region of North Galkacyo.
The fighting, which was accompanied by nonstop shelling, began after militants attacked the military bases of the Puntland forces. The deputy commander of the Galkacyo police was killed in the assault.
Meanwhile, the cholera outbreak has claimed the lives of nine more children in the capital on Friday while 300 other people suffering from cholera and other waterborne diseases were taken to Keysaney Hospital in northern Mogadishu.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on Thursday that the peak of the food crisis has yet to be reached, warning that until the next year's harvest in early 2012, three million people are at risk of starvation in southern Somalia.