Mass influxes of wounded patients to hospitals across Sudan as ‘war on people’ continues
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MSF teams in three different parts of Sudan - Khartoum, North Darfur and South Darfur states - treated mass influxes of war wounded patients as the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continued, with little respect shown for civilian life.
On 4 February in Nyala, South Darfur, 21 injured patients were brought to the MSF supported Nyala Teaching Hospital after airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces hit a peanut oil factory , with reports of 25 people killed. On 3 February airstrikes hit residential areas of Nyala, hitting and destroying civilian houses. The airstrikes took place in the afternoon when many people were around. Thirty two people were reportedly killed and dozens injured, with many patients brought to the Nyala Teaching Hospital.
An MSF doctor was working in the hospital when the airstrikes took place:
I am a doctor at MSF and I work at Nyala Teaching Hospital. Let me tell you about the airstrike, that happen here just a while ago. Suddenly, while we were doing our routine work, we heard a bomb. The first bomb of the airstrike was when everything became chaotic.
People, caretakers, and caregivers were running everywhere, trying to find shelter and a safe place. We heard the bomb near the hospital, we saw it!
Some of us were able to see it from inside the hospital. We saw the dust and smoke at the northern part of the hospital.
We tried to take cover everywhere. First, I took cover in the mosque near the ER. After that, when the plane left, we knew it would return. We spoke to the team and advised them to take cover, prioritising their safety. We also identified the paediatric department as a safe place. We stayed there for a while, but another bombing from the airstrike occurred near the hospital. We felt the building moving, the doors and windows were shaking. There was some shrapnel inside the hospital.
At that moment, one of the nurses came and told us that casualties were starting to arrive at the hospital, and we were torn between staying safe or going to help. We had to choose. Some of us had to go and help and some of us should stay for a while, 10 or 15 minutes, then we would follow to emergency room.
When I went to emergency room I found blood everywhere, patients with multiple injuries and trauma.
What made me wonder and saddened me is that I found two children, one of them four years old and the other is two, both were victims of the airstrike. The caretaker of one of the children told me that four of her family members had died, her mother and three siblings. Only her father and anolder brother were left alive, maybe because they were not in the house.
The situation was very terrifying. Some of the team was holding on, but some of them were very afraid. Nevertheless, we kept going to work to assist. The team was composed of the assistant of our medical and non-medical team also in the emergency room. Some of them were wondering whether they’d come to work at the hospital tomorrow, worried it’ll be bombed. The situation was very terrifying, very difficult.
We do what we can, and we don't know what will happen later.
Civilians have also been killed in El Fasher, North Darfur, the scene of fierce clashes in recent months.
Over the last few days MSF teams have been treating wounded civilians in Zamzam camp after escalating heavy fighting between the RSF and SAF and their Joint Forces allies resulted in scores of casualties. On 2 February the MSF field hospital in Zamzam camp received 21 wounded patients, more than half of whom were children, who had been injured while fleeing Shagra, a village in El Fasher locality.
MSF’s field hospital in Zamzam is for paediatric and maternal healthcare and not equipped to handle trauma injuries requiring surgery. The only remaining surgical services were a few kilometres away yet people were unable to use the road between Zamzam and El Fasher due to the ongoing fighting and shifting frontlines.
Patients in critical condition were trapped in Zamzam camp with no access to lifesaving care.
Four patients were among the wounded who passed away, five patients were successfully referred to El Fasher on 3 February where Saudi hospital remains somewhat functional despite relentless attacks, with a recent bombing of the facility on 24 January reportedly killing 70 people.
Thousands of people fleeing from Shagra have arrived in Zamzam in recent days, leaving everything behind in desperate search of safety. They have told our teams of horrific violence in the area. About 60 families from Shagra also reached Tawila, where MSF runs an emergency programme providing emergency, nutritional, paediatric and maternal healthcare. They told MSF teams that people were robbed and attacked as they fled along the road.
Violence has also intensified in Khartoum state since the beginning of February. On 4 February, during RSF shelling of Omdurman there were explosions within 100 metres of the MSF supported Al Nao hospital. The Ministry of Health reported that 38 people were injured and six people were killed, including a volunteer from the Al Nao initiative, in which people volunteer to assist in running the hospital.
This is the second time medics working at the hospital have responded to a mass influx of wounded patients in recent days. On 1 February an RSF attack on a market on 1 February killed 54 people, according to the Ministry of Health. Since the war in Sudan started Al Nao hospital has been hit by explosions three times, in August 2023, October 2023 and June 2024.
“The violence that the Rapid Support Forces and Sudanese Armed Forces are inflicting on civilians right across Sudan is tragic and appalling”, said Ozan Agbas MSF Emergency Manager.
“The violence continues ruining lives, making it harder for people to access healthcare and putting healthcare workers at risk. We urge the warring parties to protect civilian life and spare them from this war on people.”