Birmingham student waiting for evacuation from Sudan describes capital like horror film The Purge
A student from Birmingham has described fighting in Sudan similar to the horror film The Purge.
Samar Eltayeb, 20, is trying to flee Sudan's capital, Khartoum, after fighting broke out between the army and paramilitary forces last week.
The third year medical student at the National University in Khartoum, said "there’s murderers and people who’ve committed manslaughter and thieves everywhere”.
She said prisoners are running rampant, families are being bombed out of their homes, guns are being fired in the streets and roads full of tanks.
The British-Sudanese student is waiting to be evacuated to join her parents, three brothers and two sisters back in the UK.
'I’m afraid that I’m never going to see Khartoum again.'
Ms Eltayeb said Sudan is "just like" the movie The Purge, a 2013 horror film about a wealthy family who find themselves in danger during the annual Purge, a night when all crime is temporarily legal.
"The prisoners got released from the prison yesterday. So there’s murderers and people who’ve committed manslaughter and thieves everywhere,” said Ms Eltayeb.
"People have mentioned that they’ve been looted, and they took their stuff and their money, and they were just left in the middle of nowhere," she added.
“It was really scary.”
On the day fighting erupted, Ms Eltayeb said she woke up in her student accommodation to the sound of gunfire.
"When everything first happened, I was in my dorm. It was in the hotspot and I heard everything.
"It was so terrifying. The sounds kept getting louder. And it was as if they were right outside the dorm.
“All the girls were screaming and I was like: ‘Oh my God, this is real.’”
After spending two days terrified, one of Ms Eltayeb family members in Sudan picked her up and drove to his house on the outskirts of the capital.
"As we were driving, the actual main road was closed because there were so many tanks.
"That other way had the military people and they stopped us and asked where you’re going, who’s in the back, and asked us to open up the trunk. It was a lot.”
Ms Eltayeb has remained hidden to avoid witnessing the violence that is unfolding.
She said: "I haven’t seen anything but my mum has told me our family house has been bombed.
"Buildings have just been destroyed by missiles. I’m afraid that I’m never going to see Khartoum again."
What is happening in Sudan?
More than 420 people, including at least 273 civilians, have been killed since fighting began on April 15.
A ceasefire in Sudan was agreed, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and came into place on Monday (April 24) to allow for evacuations of foreign nationals.
Around 1,400 military personnel are involved in the "large-scale" evacuation of UK nationals after the three-day ceasefire was agreed.
The first two evacuation flights carrying British nationals landed at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus as of 6.30am on Wednesday, with flights back to London set for later today.
Three planes are due to leave this morning, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledging “many more” would follow as he warned of a “critical” 24 hours.
Ms Eltayeb has been waiting for instructions from the British government about her evacuation from Sudan.
She says she must get to the Wadi Saidna Air Base in the north of Khartoum – an hour’s drive from her family members house.
"I’m trying to get there. But the problem is the vehicles that we have have no gas, and the petrol stations are empty," she said.
"There’ll be constant flights within the next few days, but if I can’t find gas to get there, then I’m stuck.
"I’ve been trying to find other ways to leave this country like the Egyptian border, or getting a boat to Jeddah in Saudi. But as it’s just me, I can’t travel by myself in this really unsafe country."
Ms Eltayeb has called the response from the British embassy as mixed.
"I did try to call the embassy the first day this happened, and they didn’t tell me anything. They were just like, ‘stay indoors’,” she said.
"Today [April 25], they’ve actually been helpful and said evacuations are going to happen within the next couple of days."
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the UK would take charge of the Wadi Saeedna airstrip from German forces, after Berlin evacuated all its nationals.
The UK military now control the airstrip to help British nationals flee the country.
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