A British woman stranded in Sudan after going to visit her sick father has managed to escape the country by boat, according to a friend.
Rita El-Gazali, from Bournemouth, had flown to Khartoum three weeks ago but became trapped when fighting broke out.
Her friend, Beatriz Brooks, said Ms El-Gazali and her 82-year-old father had crossed into Saudi Arabia.
They are now trying to obtain a visa for her father so they can return to the UK.
Ms Brooks said the journey from Khartoum to Port Sudan would normally have taken about 15 hours but numerous army checkpoints meant it took Ms El-Gazali and her father “several days”.
She said: “When she got there, the Foreign Office called her to tell her she had to go back to the north of Khartoum, then the communication dropped so she couldn’t hear what to do or when to do it. The only option was to go across the Red Sea.
“She is now in Jeddah. After two weeks of adrenaline, she said to me she feels pain everywhere. What she has been through is very dramatic.
“Her father seems OK but doesn’t seem very aware of what is going on around him.”
Battles between the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group and the Sudanese army broke out on 15 April.
More than 2,300 people have been rescued in UK evacuation flights, according to the Foreign Office.
Source : BBC
