CAIRO — People hurt in street fights flooded the wards of the Khartoum Teaching Hospital. The Sudanese capital had turned into a war zone, and supplies were running low. Doctors, nurses, patients, and their families had been confined inside for days.
Then early on Monday, shelling severely damaged one of the wards.
Dr. Amin Saad told The Associated Press, "We are running out of everything. We have the fewest tools at our disposal. Despite the fact that everyone here is worn out, there are not enough doctors.
Soon after, the hospital totally closed down, trapping all of the employees, patients, and family members inside while fights broke out all around the area. According to the Doctors' Syndicate, it was one of at least 12 hospitals that had to close in the capital region because they had run out of fuel, were destroyed during combat, or were inaccessible due to skirmishes.
Violence between Sudan's two senior generals has erupted, causing havoc in Khartoum's hospitals. Since Saturday, residents have been unable to leave their houses as the two sides have engaged in fire fights and exchanged artillery and airstrikes. Since the conflict started, more than 1,800 people have been injured and more than 180 people have died, according to U.N. envoy Volker Perthes.
Twenty hospitals are located in Omdurman, a nearby city, and the capital. Doctors claimed those that continued to function were understaffed, overworked, low on supplies, and battling with power or water outages.
Everyone was taken off guard by the rapid outbreak of fighting, which trapped medical professionals within hospitals and prevented other staff from accessing the facilities.
Dr. Sara Mohi, who has been unable to reach the hospital where she works in central Khartoum, said: "I tried several times over the past two days but was forced to return (home) because of the battles."
"Extremely dire," declared Atiya Abdulla Atiya of the Doctors' Syndicate, regarding the situation.
Numerous hospitals in Khartoum, according to the World Health Organization, have reported shortages of "blood, transfusion equipment, intravenous fluids, medical supplies, and other life-saving commodities."
According to the general manager, Al Nameir Gibril Ibrahim, the Al-Shaab Teaching Hospital closed down Monday after a ward was damaged during fighting, joining the Khartoum Teaching Hospital in doing so.
On Monday, footage posted online showed personnel removing patients from the Al-Shaheed Salma kidney treatment center amidst fighting. Staff members hid and dashed across the street with a gurney carrying a patient as gunfire rang out. The Police Hospital was also evacuated on Sunday, according to the syndicate.
After the neighborhood's power was cut off, Dr. Ossama al-Shazly, the director of the International Hospital in Khartoum's northern Bahri area, posted a plea on social media late Sunday.
"The situation is quite dire. We need people to supply fuel, he continued, noting that many patients need surgery and others were in intensive care units with nowhere to be evacuated to.