Ongoing deadly clashes in Sudan's capital city resulted in a student being killed by a stray bullet at the University of Khartoum, with dozens of others trapped in the violence.
A Facebook post, verified by the BBC, confirmed that the student's body was buried on campus, as safe passage off-site could not be secured.
The army and a notorious paramilitary force, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), are vying for control in Khartoum, and both groups claim to have control over key sites, where residents are sheltering from explosions and gunfire.
Law student Mosaab Sharif, who is sheltering in a building near the campus, reported that students have been without food or water for three days and have been caught in heavy firefights. Sharif explained, in a video posted online, that “There are ammunition strikes around us which hit homes. The students have been here for three days without food or drink. Their condition is very, very, bad.”
Several students remain trapped and have been sleeping in a nearby mosque, where a shell hit the building, injuring two people.
Another student recorded a video, circulating widely on social media, revealing that dozens of students are sleeping on the floor of a campus library, as they are too afraid to leave the building. The situation is dire, as food and water have been running low, and no one wants to risk leaving the building. The law student Sharif added, “We are scared of both sides, the military and the RSF if they shoot in our direction.”
Schools and universities are calling on humanitarian organizations to help evacuate dozens of stranded people and students.
However, Ghazali Babiker, Sudan's acting director for the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières, said that even aid agencies trying to help have been cut off.
“With this war, no one can walk out on the street. Everyone is trapped in their location,” he explained.
A Nigerian student in Khartoum, who wished to remain anonymous, told the BBC that she managed to escape but had “never experienced anything like this in her life.”