Dam break in Sudan kills at least 30 people

A dam has burst in eastern Sudan, destroying at least 20 villages and killing at least 30 people, but there are likely to be many more victims, the UN said on Monday, UNN reports citing Reuters.

Details

Heavy rains caused floods that on Sunday overwhelmed the Arbaat Dam just 40 km north of Port Sudan, the country's de facto capital and the base of the government, diplomats, humanitarian organizations and hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

Officials said that the dam began to collapse, and silt accumulated on days of heavy rains that came much earlier than usual.

Some people have left their flooded homes and headed for the mountains, where they are now stranded, the Health Ministry said.

"The area is unrecognizable. Electricity and water supply are destroyed," Omar Eissa Haroun, head of the Red Sea State Water Authority, said in a WhatsApp message to employees.

One of the rescuers said that 150 to 200 people were missing.

The homes of about 50,000 people were affected by the flood, the UN said, citing local authorities, adding that this number only applied to the area west of the dam, as the area to the east was inaccessible.

On Monday, the government's rainy season task force reported that 132 people have died in floods across the country, up from 68 two weeks earlier. According to UN agencies, at least 118,000 people have been displaced by the rains this year.

The dam was the main source of water for Port Sudan, home to the country's main port on the Red Sea and an operating airport, and where most of the country's much-needed aid arrives.

"The city is threatened by drought in the coming days," the Sudan Environmentalists Association said in a statement.

Addendum

Sudan's dams, roads, and bridges were already in disrepair before the war between the Sudanese army and paramilitary rapid response forces broke out in April 2023. Since then, both sides have devoted most of their resources to the conflict, leaving the infrastructure in a terrible state, the publication notes.

The conflict in Sudan began when the competition between the army and the RSF, which had previously shared power after organizing a coup, escalated into open warfare.

Both sides were trying to protect their power and large economic interests, while the international community was pushing a plan for a transition to civilian rule.

Overlapping ceasefire efforts, including the Saudi-led US-led talks in Jeddah, have not eased the fighting, and half of the 50 million people are food insecure, the newspaper said.