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At least 60 people have been killed in war-torn Sudan after heavy rains caused a dam to collapse.
Search operations are currently underway but there are fears the death toll could be much higher.
The Arbat Dam has a storage capacity of 25 million cubic meters and is the main source of drinking water for the coastal city of Port Sudan, the seat of the military junta.
Sudan, which has been enduring a 16-month civil war, is now experiencing heavy rains and flooding that have killed dozens of people and forced tens of thousands to evacuate their homes.
The Red Sea state dam collapse was one of the worst, washing away farms and villages downstream.
People were “trapped in seven vehicles – they tried to get people out but failed,” local resident Ali Issa told AFP.
Another, Moussa Mohamad Moussa, said he had heard that in one area “all the houses and everything were washed away.”
Heavy rains also damaged a major fiber-optic cable in Sudan, causing communications outages in many parts of the country for a second day, according to private companies. radio dabanga website.
According to local newspaper Merdameek, the air force was trying to rescue people trapped in the mountains.
Omar Issa Tahir, director of the Red Sea state water authority, told local news site Akhbar that the floods had “destroyed the entire region.”
Army Chief Abdul Fattah Burhan inspected the flood-affected areas.
In a Facebook post, the military called on all “federal and state agencies to use all possibilities to help the citizens of these areas and provide them with support and assistance.”
Sudan has been wracked by war since fighting broke out between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army last April.
Millions of people have been forced to flee their homes and famine has been declared in several states.
Extreme weather conditions will only exacerbate food shortages.
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