Death of more than 300 persons in Al-Gezira State due to poisoning

The Head of the Forensic Medicine Advisory Office at the Federal Ministry of Health, Ogail Suwar al-Dahab, told Al-Jazeera that the number of deaths resulting from an unknown poisoning in Al-Hilaliya area, Al-Gezira State in Central Sudan, has jumped to more than 300.

Suwar al-Dahab ruled out that the deaths witnessed in Al-Hilaliya, which he described as disturbing, were the result of the outbreak of cholera, based on medical standards.

The Sudanese official appealed to specialized international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Red Cross and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to intervene urgently to provide assistance to the victims and conduct investigation on the mysterious deaths, according to his expression.

Meanwhile, local sources told Al-Jazeera that more than 200 people were killed in Al-Hilaliya due to the siege imposed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the area for more than two weeks.

These sources explained that those victims were killed by bullets of the Rapid Support Forces, while others passed away due to water poisoning and the spread of the cholera epidemic.