Woman and child die in stampede during aid distribution in South Darfur capital

Local residents in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur state, revealed information regarding the death of a woman and child last Wednesday during a stampede involving a large number of citizens who gathered to receive relief rations at Khadija Bint Khuwaylid School in the Masaneaneighborhood, south of the city.

Haitham Omar, a resident of the neighborhood, told (Darfur 24) that a number of vehicles carrying relief supplies belonging to the Solidarités International Organization entered the neighborhood accompanied by guards from the Rapid Support Forces and sounded sirens, then citizens who had gathered early at the school from the Tadamon, Thawra, Masanea, Riyadh and Otash Camp neighborhoods began to rush towards the vehicles, forcing them to vacate the premises.

He pointed out that the citizens’ rush towards the vehicles caused children to suffocate, including a child his mother was carrying him on her back. One of the women was stabbed with a knife and died before reaching the hospital, while others were injured and transferred to the Turkish Nyala Hospital south of the city.

In the same context, a source in the Rapid Support Forces in Nyala told (Darfur 24) that the distribution of relief is taking place regularly, however there are challenges in regards to securing the distribution operations for citizens due to the constant rush to the centers and the failure of some organizations to register families, which causes chaos.

The “Mc” Organization, one of the international organizations operating in Nyala, distributed relief supplies to a number of neighborhoods in the city, with a total of (700) beneficiaries in the neighborhoods of Al-Salam, Al-Congo, Al-Jirand Khartoum Belil.

The materials distributed included a 50-kilo bag of sugar, a 36-pound can of oil, a 50-kilo sack of flour, a 25-kilo sack of lentils, a 25-kilo bag of rice, a 80-piece box of soap, and a 50-bag pack of pasta for each family.