Child drowns, homes collapse in Darfur rains

Hundreds of homes collapsed under torrential rains that hit Zamzam camp on Sunday. A child drowned in El Fasher. Meanwhile two camps in South Darfur have witnessed a drinking water shortage.

A camp sheikh told Radio Dabanga that 100 homes have been completely destroyed because of the rain. 183 more have been damaged.

The sheikh appealed to humanitarian organisations and local authorities to expedite the provision of food and plastic sheeting to those affected.

In the beginning of June, a camp leader informed Radio Dabanga that a number of camps, including Zamzam, have witnessed a severe water shortage as the price of drinking water had risen.

In El Nasr district, west of El Fasher, a child died by drowning in a flash flood caused by the rains. A number of houses collapsed. A source reported his name as Mohamed Salah Zakariya.

In El Geneina, West Darfur, rain and dust storms crushed down walls and rooms of a number of family houses, a listener reported.

Water shortage

In South Darfur, displaced people in Tom Kitir and Gemayza Adawi camps in Mershing locality have complained about a water shortage. Two water pumps in the camps have stalled, one of the sheikhs reported. People currently obtain water from Wadi Amar, a well north of the camps.

Deferred maintenance to pumps or – as has been the case in the past months – a lack of fuel to operate them have been known to cause water shortages in Sudanese towns and camps for displaced people. Throughout Sudan, prices for goods have skyrocketed and even water is scarce as lack of fuel causes pumping engines across the most arid regions to splutter to a halt.