At least 60 people have lost their lives after a dam burst in Sudan’s Red Sea state, following heavy rainfall that has battered the war-torn nation. The collapse of the Arbat dam, which holds a capacity of 25 million cubic meters and serves as the primary source of drinking water for the coastal city of Port Sudan, has resulted in widespread devastation. Search and rescue operations are ongoing, but fears persist that the death toll could rise further.
The catastrophic failure of the dam has washed away farms and villages downstream, compounding the misery in a country already ravaged by 16 months of civil war. The heavy rains and subsequent floods have forced tens of thousands from their homes, with many more at risk as the extreme weather continues.
Local residents have described the harrowing scenes, with some recounting how people trapped in vehicles were unable to be rescued in time. Entire communities have been swept away, leaving nothing but destruction in their wake.
The impact of the flooding extends beyond the immediate area. A major fiber-optic cable was damaged, leading to widespread communication outages across the country for a second consecutive day, according to reports from the Radio Dabanga website. Meanwhile, the air force has been deployed to rescue those who sought refuge in the mountains, as reported by local newspaper Merdameek.
The Director of the Red Sea state’s Water Authority, Omar Issa Tahir, stated that the flooding has “wiped out the entire area,” underscoring the severity of the disaster. Sudanese Army Chief Abdul-Fattah al-Burhan has visited the affected regions, and in a Facebook post, the army urged federal and state agencies to mobilize all available resources to assist those in need.
Sudan has been in turmoil since April, when fighting erupted between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army, displacing millions and leading to widespread famine declarations across multiple states. The recent extreme weather conditions threaten to further exacerbate the country’s already dire food shortages, deepening the humanitarian crisis in a nation on the brink.