Last Update: April 16, 2023, 06:42 AM IST
Heavy smoke rises above buildings around Khartoum’s airport on April 15, 2023 amid clashes in the Sudanese capital. (AFP)
An Airbus A330 bound for Saudi Arabia was damaged by gunfire ‘with guests and crew on board’ ahead of its scheduled departure for Riyadh.
A passenger plane preparing to take off from Sudan for Saudi Arabia caught fire on Saturday as deadly fighting rocked Khartoum, the kingdom’s flag carrier said.
The Airbus A330 bound for Saudi Arabia was damaged by gunfire “with guests and crew on board” before its scheduled departure for Riyadh, Saudia said in a statement.
“It has been confirmed that all the cabin crew members of the aircraft have reached the Saudi Embassy in Sudan safely,” the statement said.
“Meanwhile aircraft flying over Sudan have been withdrawn and all other flights to and from Sudan have been suspended to maintain the safety of guests and crew.”
Clashes broke out on Saturday between Sudan’s army and paramilitary forces, and the doctors’ union reported three civilian deaths, including at Khartoum’s airport in the city centre.
Saudia’s statement did not mention any casualties in the incident involving its plane.
The paramilitary forces said they were in control of the airport as well as the presidency, claims the military denied.
The violence erupted after weeks of simmering tensions between military leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his number two, paramilitary commander Mohammed Hamdan Daglo, over the planned integration of the paramilitary Rapid Support Force (RSF) into the regular army.
It was a key element of talks to finalize a deal that would return the country to civilian rule and end the crisis triggered by his 2021 coup, which has already caused a deep economic crisis in one of the world’s poorest countries. had created a crisis.
The Saudi embassy in Sudan “urges all Saudi citizens to stay at home”, state-affiliated Al-Ekhbariya channel reported.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry and the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council, which is headquartered in Riyadh, both issued statements of concern about Saturday’s violence.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
