Ash Ramraj said he had been working in Khartoum since the end of March for a corporate company with other South Africans in the automotive industry. Durban resident Ash Ramraj at his home after returning from war-torn Sudan. Picture: Doctor Ngcobo African News Agency (ANA).
A Durban resident, who was among the 53 South Africans evacuated from Sudan following the armed conflict, has described the carnage he witnessed while being evacuated from Khartoum.
Ash Ramraj said he had been working in Khartoum since the end of March for a corporate company with other South Africans in the automotive industry.
“I was living in a block of flats which the company had purchased. It was a shock for me on April 15, when I was in a meeting and we were informed that a war had broken out.
“We had to leave work and be taken to our apartments.”
Ramraj said that night they could see smoke in the city.
“We could hear explosions, bomb blasts and the gunfire and that was day one on Saturday.
“It went on all through the night and all through the day on Sunday. I was so close to the fighting, I could see where they were meeting and strategising and the next thing you would hear was gunfire.” Ramraj said a plan was then made to leave the city when there was a lull in the fighting between rival military factions.
“It was last Sunday that we found a gap. We made a plan and as soon as the gunfire slowed down, we left to a safer location just outside the centre. I just packed a handful of clothes. It was a shocking drive as we saw dead bodies on the streets, dead animals and buildings on fire. We reached AK Compound where there were other South Africans, we made plans there to evacuate Sudan.”
Ramraj said that they were able to secure two buses with the help of Gift of the Givers and the South African Embassy and left last Monday.
“Together with the ambassador and the rest of the SA Embassy team and 40 other South Africans, we took the treacherous trip to the border, an 18-hour drive through the Sahara Desert with no food and just a little water and juice that we could find. We stopped at 11pm for four hours and managed to get some food at a road stop and continued our journey, reaching the Sudanese border at 9am.”
He added that it was chaos at the border.
“The Sudanese Argeen border post offices only open at 12pm. Our group, including the ambassador and defence attaché, found a spot on the floor and waited in 40ºC heat.
“If we did not cross the Sudanese border and get to the Egyptian border before 6pm, we would have had to spend the night on the floor at the border post.”
Ramraj said that they made it out with just enough time to enter the Egyptian border post, which was just as chaotic.
The group stayed in Aswan until Saturday night and then boarded a C130 military plane to Nairobi. He said they took a flight on the same day on Kenya Airways to Johannesburg.
Meanwhile, Gift of the Givers founder Dr Imtiaz Sooliman said they were providing assistance to 22 South Africans who have been stuck on a ship in Safaga Port, Egypt, since April 29.
He said the group finally received a release order from the Egyptian Authorities yesterday morning.
“They need consular support to sign them off at Port Safaga. From there they will travel to Hurghada Airport, fly to Cairo, then Addis Ababa and finally to Cape Town. If they have a problem with their flights, we will speak to the general manager of Ethiopian Airlines in Cape Town.”
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