Sudan evacuees recount risky escape from a nation on the brink of civil war
- Foreign governments work to help diplomats and citizens flee Sudan as nation’s warring generals agree to three-day ceasefire
- With Khartoum airport disabled from battles, foreigners were airlifted from smaller airstrips or journeyed by road to Port Sudan
Clutching overstuffed suitcases, bleary-eyed civilians described a harrowing escape from violence-wracked Sudan across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia, sobbing at memories of air strikes and urban combat.
Wheelchair-bound elderly women and babies asleep in their parents’ arms were among nearly 200 people from more than 20 countries who disembarked from a naval frigate in the coastal city of Jeddah on Monday night after daring – and draining – journeys to safety.
“We travelled a long way from Khartoum to Port Sudan. It took us around 10 or 11 hours,” said Lebanese national Suhaib Aicha, who has operated a plastics factory in Sudan for more than a decade.
“It took us another 20 hours on this ship from Port Sudan to Jeddah,” he said as his young daughter cried on his shoulders.
“There were many difficult moments, all of which involved fear, tension and anxiety,” said another Lebanese passenger, a woman who declined to give her name.
“We were not sleeping, eating or drinking. We lived through many difficult days.”
Fighting broke out in Sudan on April 15 between forces loyal to army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy turned rival Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who commands the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).