Sudan flooding kills at least 30 people, damages thousands of homes

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) -- Flooding caused by heavy rains has killed at least 30 people and damaged thousands of homes in central and eastern Sudan, the government said Wednesday.

The strong rains, which began Sunday evening and continued Wednesday, destroyed at least 4,680 homes in Khartoum alone, officials said.

Interior Minister Zubair Bashir Taha raised the estimated death toll to at least 30 on Wednesday.

Hundreds of people were also injured or missing, Taha told the official Sudan News Agency.

The seasonal rains threatened to flood some neighborhoods of the capital, Khartoum, where the White and Blue Niles meet to form Africa's longest river.

Three areas east of downtown Khartoum were surrounded by flood waters.

Hundreds of people were stranded in the flooding in Um Dhawban, 20 miles east of central Khartoum, their belongings swept away by the rising waters, the minister said.

"Most citizens have deserted the area that is now totally inundated," the minister told SUNA.

In eastern Sudan, the rising river Gash, which flows into the country from the Ethiopian plateau, also created flash floods in the Kassala area, leaving hundreds of families stranded.

Several United Nations agencies and aid groups said they sent food, plastic sheeting, blankets, cooking sets and mosquito nets to thousands of families in flooded areas.

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