A dam burst triggered an avalanche of water that destroyed at least 20 villages and killed at least 30 people in eastern Sudan, the United Nations said, devastating an already devastated region. is reeling from months of civil war.

Heavy rains caused flooding that destroyed the dam. Arbaat on Sunday just 40 kilometers north of Port Sudan, the de facto national capital and government base.

“The area is unrecognisable. Electricity and water supply are destroyed,” Omar Eissa Haroun, head of the state-run Red Sea Water Authority, said in a WhatsApp message to staff.

The rescuer reported that between 150 and 200 people were missing.

He said he saw the bodies of gold miners and parts of their equipment destroyed, and compared the disaster to the devastation in the eastern Libyan city of Derna last September, when rainwater broke through damsdestroyed buildings and killed thousands of people.

On Monday, on the way to Arbaat, a Reuters journalist saw people burying a man and covering his grave with driftwood to prevent it from being washed away by landslides.

The flooding damaged the homes of about 50,000 people, the United Nations said, citing local authorities, adding that the figure only applied to the area west of the dam as the eastern area was inaccessible.

The dam was the main source of water for Port Sudan, home to the country’s main Red Sea port and operating airport, and also receives the bulk of the country’s much-needed humanitarian aid.

“The city faces thirst in the coming days,” the Sudanese Environmental Association said in a statement.

Crumbling INFRASTRUCTURE

Officials said the dam began to fail and sediment built up during heavy rain that came much earlier than usual.

Sudan’s dams, roads and bridges were already in poor condition before the war began. war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary rapid reaction force in April 2023.

Since then, both sides have devoted most of their resources to the conflict, leaving the infrastructure in poor condition.

Some people left their flooded homes and headed to the mountains, where they are now stuck, according to the Health Ministry.

On Monday, the government’s rainy season task force said floods across the country had killed 132 people, up from 68 two weeks earlier. At least 118,000 people have fled their homes because of the rains this year, according to U.N. agencies.

The conflict in Sudan began when army and rapid reaction forcesRussia, which had previously divided power after a coup d’etat, entered into open war.

Both sides sought to protect their power and broader economic interests, while the international community pushed for a transition to civilian rule.

Parallel cease-fire efforts, including talks led by Saudi Arabia and the United States in Jeddah, have failed to ease the fighting, and half of the 50 million people lack food.

Reuters.