More than 99% of South Sudan votes for independence

The first official preliminary results from the voting in South Sudan show 99.5% of voters in the south chose to separate.

JUBA // More than 99 per cent of voters in Southern Sudan voted for independence in this month's referendum, according to the first official preliminary results.

Officials from the commission that organised the vote said 99.5 per cent of voters in the south chose to separate. Turnout in the south was also 99 per cent. Only 58 per cent of Southern Sudanese voting in the north opted for secession, while more than 99 per cent of votes cast in eight nations that held diaspora voting went for secession.