Escape from Hell: First Brits evacuated from Sudan land in the UK

The first Britons evacuated from Sudan have now landed in the UK after enduring a nightmarish journey to reach an airbase in the capital of Khartoum.

Exhausted Britons – many of them children – were able to breathe a sigh of relief as they landed at Stansted Airport in London this afternoon after a gruelling and terrifying week of violence in Sudan.

Parents held their children tightly as they made their way onto the tarmac – 24 hours after they had risked their lives to reach the British troops waiting for them at the Wadi Saeedna airbase in Khartoum. 

So far, more than 300 people – many of them young children – have been evacuated to Cyprus and now the UK as the government races to evacuate the thousands of Britons trapped in the war-torn country before the window of opportunity closes.

Those evacuated on the four Royal Air force planes had somehow survived the treacherous journey through the violent streets of Khartoum in order to be flown to safety before the fragile 72-hour ceasefire ends – all without a UK military escort. 

Britons have described seeing thieves and killers roaming the streets, while the corpses of civilians killed in the fighting laid scattered on the ground in scenes that have been compared to the horror film The Purge.

‘It was something else, I can’t even describe it,’ a British citizen evacuated from Sudan told the BBC in Cyprus. ‘It was bad, it was very bad. I don’t even want to remember it.’

Parents held their children tightly as they made their way onto the tarmac at Stansted airport – 24 hours after they had risked their lives to reach the British troops waiting for them at the Wadi Saeedna airbase in Khartoum

British evacuees disembark from a charter flight at Stansted airport in Essex after flying from Cyprus on Wednesday

British civilians, many of whom are children, are pictured safely onboard an RAF aircraft after being evacuated from Sudan

A British government official comforts a little boy as he is evacuated from Sudan

The race is on to evacuate as many of the 4,000 British civilians trapped in Sudan before the 72-hour ceasefire ends tomorrow, with a total of eight flights carrying terrified Britons expected to leave Khartoum by the end of today.

The government, which has been criticised for not evacuating British civilians sooner, said 301 people have been evacuated so far – a fraction of those still trapped in the country.

Children, many of whom will have heard gunfights raging on the streets outside their relatives’ homes, clung to their parents as they were helped onboard the British aircraft after being evacuated from Sudan today. 

The first evacuation flight to touch down on British soil landed at Stansted airport at 2.30pm on Wednesday afternoon after departing from Larnaca airport in Cyprus in the morning. 

But it’s not clear how long the evacuation flights can go on for – or whether Britons will be able to reach the airstrip – as street battles erupted between Sudan’s army and paramilitary force again today.

There are fears that many Britons will not be able to reach the airfield due to how dangerous it is to travel through the various checkpoints set up since the war began more than a week ago.

Britons have told how taxi drivers have said no amount of money would convince them to drive to the capital, while the lack of petrol is also hampering efforts to escape.

Relatives of those trapped in Sudan have told MailOnline they are waiting in anguish for news that their loved ones have managed to make it across the capital and to the airfield safely during what Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said is a ‘critical’ 24 hours.

‘I feel sick to my stomach, it’s a horrible waiting game,’ Esra Osman, whose mother Hamra is travelling through Khartoum to reach the airbase told MailOnline.

‘We’ve just spoken to my mother on the phone and she’s sounding scared and stressed. There are so many checkpoints and it’s so dangerous.’

An elderly British woman is helped onboard the RAF aircraft before being evacuated from Sudan

British soldiers greet a British family as they board an RAF plane before being evacuated from Sudan

British families are risking their lives to reach an airbase where UK evacuation flights will take them away from the war wreaking havoc in Sudan. Pictured: RAF plane landing in Cyprus on Wednesday

British nationals evacuated from Sudan arrive at the Larnaca International Airport, in Larnaca, Cyprus, on Wednesday

A plane carrying British nationals evacuated from Sudan, arrives at the Larnaca International Airport, in Larnaca, Cyprus, on April 26

British nationals depart from an RAF aircraft, after being evacuated from Sudan, at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, on Tuesday

Fighters ride in the back of a technical vehicle (pickup truck mounted with a turret) in the East Nile district of greater Khartoum on April 23

The UK is now in temporary control over the Sudanese airstip, having taken over from Germany after Berlin completed its own evacuation mission with 700 civilians and diplomats rescued from at least 30 countries. 

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said British troops are prepared to use force if needed to protect the air base in the event it comes under attack during the airlifts.

Announcing the completion of Germany’s evacuation efforts, the country’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said Berlin would not leave civilians ‘to their own devices’, in an apparent swipe at the UK’s approach which saw only diplomats being evacuated over the weekend. 

She said that ‘unlike in other countries’, Germany’s evacuation had included all its nationals and not just embassy staff. 

Mr Sunak defended the UK’s efforts, saying it was ‘right’ that diplomats were prioritised ‘because they were being targeted’. 

The Foreign Office backtracked on their earlier advice and urged all British passport holders and their immediate family members to make the perilous journey to the airfield to board evacuation flights – all without a military escort.

Britons have described how there are ‘murderers’ and ‘thieves everywhere’ in the capital after they were let out of the prison.

Samar Eltayeb, from Birmingham, told Sky News that Khartoum is now just like the scene from the 2013 horror film the Purge where all crime is legal for a night.

Earlier this week, Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke into five prisons and released detainees, including ousted president Omar Hassan al-Bashir and other top officials from Kober prison, Sudan’s police said. 

Police said the raid on Kober led to the killing and injury of several prison officials, adding that the RSF released all who were held there.

Some Britons have said the journey to get to the Wadi Saeedna airfield outside of Khartoum – where the fighting has been fiercest – is so dangerous that they have made the difficult decision to stay in Sudan.

A British national departs from an RAF aircraft, after being evacuated from Sudan, at RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, on Tuesday

British nationals wait after being evacuated from Sudan, in RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, on Tuesday

UK nationals are pictured waiting to disembark from an A400M transport plane at Larnaca International Airport in Cyprus on Tuesday

Evacuees from Sudan board a bus after disembarking from a British Royal Air Force military transport at Larnaca airport in Cyprus, on April 25

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vists the Crisis Centre in the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office to speak to staff working on the ongoing situation in Sudan on Tuesday

Around 1,400 British military personnel are involved in the ‘large-scale’ evacuation of UK nationals from Sudan. Pictured: British soldiers at the Akrotiri airbase in Cyprus prepare to board a plane to evacuate UK civilians from Sudan 

Internationally-recruited personnel of the United Nations Mission board the French frigate Lorraine as they evacuate from Port Sudan on Wednesday

Members of the Saudi Navy Forces assist evacuees arriving at King Faisal navy base in Jeddah on Wednesday following a rescue operation from Sudan

Saudi Navy personnel assist civilians being evacuated by Saudi Arabia from Sudan, to escape the conflict, at Jeddah Sea Port in Jeddah on Wednesday

Damaged buildings are seen following clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in South Khartoum locality, Sudan, on Tuesday

Damaged buildings are seen following clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in South Khartoum locality, Sudan, on Tuesday

Mr Sunak authorised the rescue operation of British civilians on Monday night, Downing Street said, after he was accused of ‘abandoning’ them. 

The Government had decided to only airlift British diplomats and their families from Sudan over the weekend. 

Mr Wallace told Channel 4 news ‘we can take, really, who turns up at the moment’ – adding ‘there is some risk that some of the planes are not full’.

He said the UK would take charge of the Wadi Saeedna airstrip near the capital from German forces. 

Mr Wallace told LBC Radio: ‘The Germans are leaving tomorrow, and we will take over the facilitation at the airfield.

‘And the reason the Germans are leaving is people have stopped coming in large numbers.’

He said only one nation can facilitate the airfield at a time, adding: ‘If the Spanish or the Italians or anyone else wants to fly, we’ll be the ones giving permissions effectively.’

The Government is considering other options, including a possible seaborne evacuation from Port Sudan, some 500 miles from the capital. HMS Lancaster and the RFA Cardigan Bay have been sent to the region.

Approximately 40 British civilians have landed safely in Cyprus after being rescued from Sudan (pictured: British Royal Air Force military transport carrying evacuees parked on the tarmac upon arrival at Larnaca airport in Cyprus)

A woman holds her child at Cyprus’ Joint Rescue Coordination Center adjacent to the island nation’s main Larnaca airport, after arriving with approximately 38 British nationals aboard

Pictured: A C-130 Hercules leaves for Sudan from the RAF base in Cyprus