Dozens of residents who escaped the besieged town of al-Hilaliya in Sudan‘s El Gezira state have tested positive for cholera, a medical source told Reuters. This development offers a likely explanation for the reported deaths of hundreds in the area.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began their siege of the town, home to tens of thousands of locals and displaced individuals, on 29 October. The siege followed a series of attacks in eastern Gezira, allegedly in retaliation for the defection of a senior RSF commander to the Sudanese army. At least 15 people were killed by gunfire during the initial RSF raid, according to activists.
As news of mass fatalities emerged, rumours spread regarding the cause of the deaths, with some speculating that RSF soldiers had deliberately poisoned residents. However, a growing number of those who managed to flee the town have since tested positive for cholera, according to the medical source.
Other medics from al-Hilaliya reported that RSF soldiers drove people from their homes, stealing money, vehicles, and livestock. Most residents sought refuge in the courtyards of three mosques. The soldiers also looted solar panels and electrical wires used to pump groundwater, leaving many residents reliant on an old, shallow well that had been unused for decades and may have been contaminated with sewage, according to medics and an eyewitness.
The medics and eyewitnesses, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid reprisals, said the situation had been dire.
Earlier this week, the United Nations reported a suspected cholera outbreak among people fleeing eastern Gezira—one of several outbreaks across Sudan—though it did not specifically mention al-Hilaliya. The Shargelnil Emergency Response Room confirmed that medics at Omdawanban Hospital had received at least 200 cholera cases from the region.
In al-Hilaliya, dozens began falling ill with symptoms including severe stomach pain, diarrhoea, and vomiting. With the town’s hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies looted by the RSF, only a handful of residents were able to access antibiotics and recover, one medic said. Many others succumbed to the illness.
Those desperate to leave the area reportedly paid large sums to RSF soldiers for safe passage out of the state, according to eyewitnesses who arrived in the army-controlled town of Shendi. Thousands are believed to remain trapped.
“We escaped death by a miracle. So many around us were dying from this illness,” said a 70-year-old survivor.
The Sudanese Ministry of Health and the RSF have not responded to requests for comment.
The devastating conflict between the army and the RSF, which erupted in April 2023, has ravaged Sudan’s infrastructure, spreading disease and creating the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.
