80 homes razed in North Darfur inferno

At least 80 homes, dozens of shops, and large quantities of agricultural produce have been completely destroyed by a fire that broke out in the village of Hamary Andarab in the Haskanita Administrative Unit in El Laeit locality, North Darfur, on Friday evening and raged on into Saturday.

While no human casualties were reported, exact losses are still being assessed, including the loss of many livestock. A dedicated committee has been set up to determine the extent of the losses. The executive director of the locality confirmed that the locality stood with the families and shop owners affected by the fire to overcome the effects of the disaster that befell them.

The executive director of El Laeit locality, Mohamed Hammad, accompanied by the acting director of the local zakat (Muslim charity) office, Mohamed Fasher, the Humanitarian Aid Commissioner and some executive leaders, inspected the general condition of the people who were affected by the fire.

Hammad made an urgent appeal to charitable and humanitarian organisations to help the affected families, who he said are now living in difficult conditions, indicating in this regard that he had formed a committee headed by the director of the Haskanita unit to assess the number of houses that were burned and to list other losses, in preparation for submitting it to the General Secretariat of the state.

While the exact causes of the fires that have broken out in Sudan over the last weeks are still being investigated, there are increased hazards of fire at this time of the year, especially during the preparations for the daily Iftar, the traditional breaking of the fast of Ramadan after sunset.