More than 200 civilians in South Sudan have drowned in ferry accident on the Nile River.  They were fleeing the fighting between government troops and rebels loyal to the former Vice President in a town seen as the gateway to the country’s oil production region.

“The reports we have are of between 200 to 300 people, including women and children.  The boat was overloaded,” said army spokesman Philip Aguer, who added that, “They all drowned.  They were fleeing the fighting that broke out again in Malakal.”

The Episcopal bishop of Malakal Hilary Garang Deng said the banks of the Nile at Malakal were in chaos and that people were “running for their lives, fearing because the rebels were advancing.”  The town has already changed hands at least two times during the civil war.

At least 350,000 people are displaced because of the South Sudan civil war, which has pit the majority Dinka population, loyal to President Salva Kiir, against the second largest ethnic group Nuer, which is loyal to the former vice president Riek Machar.