An NHS doctor fleeing Sudan says he’s “absolutely relieved” to have made it on one of the UK’s last evacuation flights after fleeing gunfire in Khartoum
By day six, the sounds of gunfire every hour was becoming a normality, he said. His seven-year-old son Ibrahim described it as “fireworks”, but Mr Abdelrahim feared the bullets were getting closer and closer to the house.
“A day before we left the house you could hear bullets flying over the house, you could hear them hitting the trees, you could hear them hit the walls. One hit our water tanker and all the water leaked out. We managed to get the bullet out, and it was huge,” he toldMr Abdelrahim hired a bus to leave Khartoum in the direction of Medani, more than 100 miles away. He was fearful it would get stuck between militia vehicles firing gunshots at each other, but the vehicle escaped unharmed.
A 20-hour ride in hot, dehydrating conditions led them to Port Sudan where they arrived on Sunday night, along with scores of people of other nationalities who were also arriving at the hotels in the hope of leaving.They were lining up to have their British passports checked at the hotel at 8am on Monday morning, along with about 200 others, he said.
Members of the Army were providing food and water and apologising for the delays in the evacuation. “They were saying to us that they had a better evacuation process in Afghanistan, but in my opinion, I was happy with what they were doing,” he added. When asked how he felt about making the flight he said: “Relief. Absolute relief,” but he added: “Part of me is a bit sad this is happening, in a country where I am originally from. I am tied by blood to this land. But I have my family with me and their safety is my priority, to get the kids out.”
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