KHARTOUM, March 7 (Xinhua) -- At least 92 people have died from cholera in Sudan's White Nile State over the past two weeks, the non-governmental medical aid group Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced on Friday.
From Feb. 20 to March 5, "a total of 2,718 cases have been admitted to the Ministry of Health cholera treatment center at Kosti Teaching Hospital, supported by the MSF," the group said in a statement.
"The influx of cases, most of them severely dehydrated, led to patients overflowing and having to be treated on the floor as the hospital and the cholera treatment center (CTC) ran out of space," according to the statement.
The wave of cholera, a waterborne disease, was triggered by a mass power outage after the Um-Dabakir Power Station was hit by a projectile from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Feb. 16, the MSF said, citing reports.
"This led the community to rely mostly on water procured from donkey carts after water pumps went out of service," it said.
"Attacks on critical infrastructure have long-term detrimental effects on the health of vulnerable communities," Marta Cazorla, MSF emergency coordinator for Sudan said. "Warring parties must adhere to the rules of war and ensure that civilians and critical infrastructure are protected."
As of Tuesday, the cumulative number of cholera cases in the country since July 2024 had reached 57,135, including 1,506 deaths, the Sudanese Ministry of Health announced.
Sudan's White Nile State has been witnessing attacks by the RSF, the most notable of which was the assault on villages around the al-Gitaina area, leading to the deaths of 433 civilians, according to a government report on Feb. 18.
Since mid-April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in a devastating conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, which has claimed at least 29,683 lives, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a crisis monitoring group cited by the United Nations.
The conflict has also displaced over 15 million people, both inside and outside Sudan, according to estimates by the International Organization for Migration.
