Villages swept-away, fires destroy palm trees in Sudan

Torrential rains and the ensuing floods swept away 424 villages in Sinja locality in the eastern Sudan state of Sennar on Monday. In the Northern State, a massive fire that broke out on Tuesday destroyed hundreds of palm trees. After torrential rains devastated the locality on Monday, the Sennar State government announced a State of Emergency, and mobilised organisations to take the necessary measures. Authorities said that people in the locality sustained massive losses. Many houses collapsed, as well as a bridge. ArsonOn Tuesday, a fire broke out on Masal island in the Northern State, the second incident of its kind on that day. A few hours before, a huge fire had destroyed 8,000 palm trees in the area of Nanarti.People from Nanarti told Radio Dabanga that they suspect arson. They called upon the Sudanese government to intervene, investigate the matter, and enhance the security in the region by increasing the number of the civil defence forces along the agricultural fields at the banks of the Nile. File photo: Palm trees at the banks of the Nile in northern Sudan