Parents in plea to help their daughter trapped in Sudan..

THE parents of an Irish woman trapped in war-torn Sudan with her family have demanded urgent action to get them to safety

- MICHAEL O'TOOLE

Catherine and John McLoughlin, from Co Mayo, were told by officials that high-level meetings were taking place to consider the evacuation of their daughter Kathy, her husband and two young children.

Mrs McLoughlin said: "We can do nothing. We feel so helpless. The ceasefire hasn't materialised. Our little grandchildren are so traumatised. The family are in danger."

Kathy heads an international school in the capital Khartoum where she lives with her husband Dr Rami McAlgeed and sons Lochlan, seven, and four-year-old Liam.

She said: "We've had a really terrible five days since last Saturday when the fighting broke up.

"After the soldiers let Rami and the others go, we walked for hours and hours, miles and miles and endured many more difficult and scary moments along the way.

"Now we're staying in a friend's house but it's not safe. There are still bombs going off nearby and we need to be evacuated as soon as possible.

"My husband Rami doesn't have an Irish passport and I do not want to leave him behind. We have to leave together.

Meanwhile, elite Army Ranger Wing operators are being sent to rescue Irish people from Sudan - but the Defence Forces have no way of getting them there.