A British national stranded in Sudan said she fears she could “lose a family member at any point”.
Sarra Eljak, from Slough, Berkshire, had flown to Khartoum with her husband and daughters to visit family for Easter.
They were trapped when street battles between the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group and the Sudanese army broke out on 15 April.
Ms Eljak said: “There wasn’t any indication a war was going to happen.”
She told the BBC they had dinner out with their relatives and returned home around 01:00 local time (00:00 GMT) before the fighting broke out a few hours later.
“All of a sudden, we woke up hearing the sound of loud army weapons all around,” the mother-of-four said.
“We didn’t know what was going on so quickly put on the TV and found out from the news and social media.”
After five days with no sleep and “hearing gunshots every single minute”, Ms Eljak, her husband Mustafa Abbas and their children fled by bus to the city of Wad Madani, around 200km (124 miles) from the capital.
“We took the risk and went,” she explained, adding: “Normally the journey takes around three hours but it took us six.
“It is just a matter of luck – other people experienced stealing and some of them got shot on the same road – luckily we arrived safely.”
After spending 13 days sheltering in Wad Madani, the family made their way to Port Sudan where they were waiting to get on an RAF evacuation flight back to the UK.
She said she is afraid for her parents and siblings left behind: “My mum and dad both have hypertension and diabetes so if this war continues we can’t manage to bring these medications to them.
“And we can’t take them out [of Sudan] – they don’t have British passports.”
During the clashes, she said their front door in Khartoum was shot and they found the bullet inside.
“Luckily no one was hurt,” she said, adding: “But you have the feeling you are going to lose a family member at any point.
“I hope the situation will change all of sudden. I wish the best for Sudan – Sudanese people are the best and don’t deserve this.”
Source : BBC
