- Caroline Hawley, Cathy Long, Andre Roden-Paul
- in Larnaca and London
A second evacuation flight to rescue British citizens from war-torn Sudan has landed in Cyprus.
The passengers and another 39 people from Tuesday’s earlier rescue flight are expected to be given the chance to fly to the UK from Larnaca airport later.
British forces are trying to force British citizens out of the East African country during a 72-hour ceasefire.
The BBC was told that 39 people were flown on the first RAF plane, with a total of three relief flights planned.
The detained British nationals were told to make their way to a runway near Sudan’s capital Khartoum on their own after it became clear that the ceasefire, which began at midnight (22:00 GMT) local time on Monday, would remain in place. was
Royal Air Force military aircraft are used to pick up British passport holders from the runway and fly them to Lanalca Airport where documents are checked. The Air Force plane will then refuel and return to Sudan to pick up the next batch waiting on the runway.
A total of 260 people were expected to board the flight, but the foreign ministry has yet to confirm how many people boarded the second plane, which arrived in Larnaca early Wednesday morning.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it aims to keep evacuees in Cyprus for no more than 48 hours, after which they can choose to fly to the UK.
It is believed that there are only a few relatively safe times to exploit this evacuation activity.
Among the first groups of evacuees to arrive in Cyprus, families with young children, including newborns, were met by the Cyprus Red Cross, which provides food and toiletries.
They spend the night in Larnaca before heading to London on a charter flight that leaves in the morning.
The British man whose sister was evacuated overnight told the BBC he felt overwhelming relief to have escaped a city where food and water were scarce because it was unsafe for people to leave their homes. said.
He said at one point she and 13 others could only share four dates and one egg.
It’s not clear why so many British passport holders have never flown, but I know one NHS doctor who visits an elderly mother without a UK visa. .
About 120 British troops are helping to evacuate at the Wadi Saidna airstrip. Downing Street said British forces would defend airfields in Sudan, but clear efforts would be made to avoid “aggressive engagement” with other forces.
Clashes between the Sudanese army and the militia’s Rapid Support Force (RSF) began on 15 April. The ensuing conflict left hundreds dead and thousands wounded.
Airlifting large numbers of people out of Sudan is complicated by major airports becoming battlefields, making travel from the capital endangered.
Secretary of Defense Ben Wallace previously told LBC radio that “there weren’t thousands at the gate” like the evacuation from Afghanistan two years ago, so “there is a risk that some planes aren’t full”. rice field.
The government is also considering maritime evacuations from Port Sudan, about 500 miles from the capital. HMS Lancaster and her RFA Cardigan Her Bay were dispatched to the area.
Relatives of an elderly couple in Britain and Sudan told BBC Radio 4’s World Tonight that they risk being shot if they leave their homes, but they risk starving to death if they stay home.
Yasmin Shorgami, from West London, said it has been 10 days since she was able to speak to her grandparents who live across the street from the British Embassy in the Sudanese capital London.
When she finally spoke to her 89-year-old British grandfather and 75-year-old grandmother and their spouses, she said they had no food, no water, no electricity.
She describes the place where they live as a “fighting hot pot” and it would be “impossible for the grandparents to move”.
Over 2,000 British citizens are registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sudan.
Families with children, elderly relatives, or individuals with medical conditions will be given priority on flights.
Only UK passport holders and immediate family members with UK entry permits are said to be eligible for evacuation flights.
On Tuesday evening, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak visited the Foreign Office’s Crisis Center in London, which oversees evacuation efforts. “The next 24 hours are absolutely critical,” he told staff.
“The security situation on the ground in Sudan is complex and precarious, and we wanted to ensure that we put in place safe and secure processes that worked for the people. Effective.”