At least 30 dead after dam collapse disaster in Sudan

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At least 30 people have been killed following the collapse of a dam in Sudan's northwest Red Sea State, according to the United Nations's emergency relief agency. Hundreds more are believed missing, Reuters reported.
Flash flooding decimated 20 villages and damaged a further 50 after the Arba'at Dam collapsed Sunday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. It estimated 50,000 people had been "severely affected" by the disaster.
In the villages of Khor-Baraka and Tukar, residents were reportedly forced to flee for safety, OCHA also said, citing local officials. It added that the final death toll could rise significantly.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) footage of the aftermath shows industrial trucks buried in mud and debris, some laden with crates and personal belongings. Other vehicles are almost unrecognizable on the silty riverbank.
One resident who lived near the dam, Moussa Mohamad Moussa, described in another video from AFP how "the dam broke and… the water swept away around 40 people."
"In the area where I'm from, the Tabub area… they told me that all the houses and everything was swept away," he said.

Local media report that the dam burst on Saturday night following heavy rains, but exact details have been difficult to gather due to mobile network outages.

Arbaat, 40km (25 miles) north of Port Sudan, is part of Sudan’s system of dams that help manage floodwaters and is where the two upper branches of the river Nile meet in Sudan.

The country has been dealing with heavy rainfall and floods since the end of June, with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) saying that the harsh weather has affected an estimated 317,000 people (56,450 families) across 16 states.

The ministry of health said on Monday that the death toll from flooding across the country had risen to 132.

The most affected states include North Darfur, the River Nile, and West Darfur, OCHA reported.