Man dies after tear gas fired in Sudan capital

A man suffocated in the south-western part of Khartoum on Sunday when police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators in Kalakla El Laffa.

On Monday, district resistance committees in Kalakla said in a press statement that Mohamed Tembel, suffering from breathing problems, went to buy something at the Kalakla El Laffa market, when the police fired tear gas to break up a demonstration in the neighbourhood.

When people saw that Tembel had difficulties with breathing, they took him to the nearby Turkish Hospital. But as the hospital lacked emergency equipment, oxygen, and qualified staff, he was transferred “as soon as possible” by ambulance to another hospital that could receive him.

However, all attempts of his companions to find an intensive care bed in a better equipped hospital, failed. His condition deteriorated and he died, the resistance committees reported.

The demonstration in Kalakla El Laffa organised by the resistance committees in the neighbourhood on Sunday called “for the most basic rights, for local services, in short a decent life”, they explained.

They hold the Sudanese police “fully responsible for the death of Mohamed Tembel”.

According to the statement, the use of tear gas was not needed, as the demonstrators “peacefully expressed their opinion as they are allowed by the law”.

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