I feel like we have been left without support

AN Irish doctor, his British wife and their four children are stuck in Sudan after missing the last RAF flight out. 

- CAMERON HENDERSON

The family now faces a treacherous 800km trek to the coast to get a ship. Mustafa Abbas, 44, his wife Sarra Eljak, 38, and their kids are sheltering in the city of Wad Madani, more than 220km south east of the evacuation air strip. It comes as Ireland winds down its Cyprus-based evacuation coordination mission and pulls out members of the elite Army Ranger Wing who had been operating on the ground.

The couple, who both work for the NHS in Britain, missed the last UK evacuation flight out of Sudan on Saturday, believing the journey to be “too dangerous”.

They must now find an alternative means of fleeing the war-torn country.

The last chance for British nationals to reach the Wadi Saeedna airfield was Saturday at 11am UK time, with the final evacuation flight scheduled to take off on Saturday evening.

The family are sheltering in the city of Wad Madani.

Despite the dangers of being left behind, they said it was too risky to make the journey to the evacuation site with their children Danya, 12, Menna, 11, Anne, seven, and six-month-old Mohammed.

“It’s extremely dangerous to reach the evacuation site and the area is still experiencing attacks,” Ms Eljak said.