Around 150 South Sudanese civilians have drowned in Nile River while trying to flee the ongoing fighting between government forces and rebels in Malakal, capital of South Sudan’s Upper Nile State.

Around 150 South Sudanese civilians have drowned in Nile River while trying to flee the ongoing fighting between government forces and rebels in Malakal, capital of South Sudan's Upper Nile State, a local government official said on Thursday.

“Many people who were running from the town tried to cross the River Nile and River Kiir [a Nile tributary] but the rebels fired guns at the boats they were using and they jumped into the water and got drowned," Information Minister of Upper Nile Philip Jaben said.

According to Jaben, the fatal incidents happened on Tuesday and Wednesday when rebels waylaid the boats and shot at the people, forcing them to jump into the waters.

“Among the bodies were those of children, women and men.”

Jaben also asserted that more other people were killed after taking refuge in hospitals and churches and pointed the finger at the rebels loyal to sacked vice president Riek Machar.

On Thursday, Jaben said that fighting was still ongoing in some parts of the town.

"Today, they are fighting around Upper Nile University and UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) compound in the town and on the road that goes to Baliet," he said, adding that the town's hospital were also subject to a bombing attack.

"They [rebels] are in control of some places in the south of the town. It is difficult to chase them, and they are also not going away," he added.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) on Tuesday conceded that the rebels have taken control of parts of Malakal.

South Sudan has been shaken by violence since last December, when President Salva Kiir accused Machar of standing behind a failed coup attempt against his regime.