SEPANG, April 28 — Trapped in his own apartment for six days without electricity, with constant gunshots in the surroundings was traumatic, recalled M. Innaci Dass, 58, who was rescued from the conflict-torn Khartoum, Sudan.
The Kuala Lumpur-born, who is the chief human resource officer at Sudan-based gold mining company RIDA Group, said during his ‘trapped days’ from April 15 to 20, he was distraught as his life was in danger, not knowing what would happen next with the non-stop conflict in Khartoum.
“I live in a very congested area where the crisis took place. But I should say that I was lucky enough as my apartment is blocked by another building, which minimises the risk of bullets getting through the windows or walls of my house,” he said when met at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here today.
Innaci Dass is among the 30 Malaysians comprising Wisma Putra officials, Petronas employees and students evacuated from Khartoum. They landed safely at KLIA at 2.54 pm via Saudi Arabian Airlines flight SV834 from Jeddah.
With the help of the Malaysian Embassy in Sudan, a local Sudanese driver was tasked to rescue him from his apartment on April 21. Still, the father of two had to walk about 800 metres to pass the crisis area, where he saw bullets everywhere on the ground, accompanied by the sound of gunfire.
“I just told myself to be brave and let God handle it. With that faith, I managed to meet my driver, who brought me safely to Rumah Malaysia, without any hurdles,” he said.
Sharing his experience, Innaci Dass said that the 1,233-kilometre journey from Khartoum to Port Sudan, which took about 30 hours, was also distressful for all of them as there were so many roadblocks and at one point, their passports were taken away.
However, with the help of local drivers, they managed to overcome the communication barriers and finally got the documents returned.
While he had reached his homeland safely, Innaci Dass said his thoughts flew to the people of Sudan, who are in a very difficult time, stranded in their own land with no proper help.
“They are innocent and didn’t do anything wrong, but they are killed in this unnecessary war. I have 1,000 employees there (at RIDA Group), and I’m worried about them. They are very poor people suffering in Sudan,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jessica Chong, a 39-year-old humanitarian worker with World Vision Sudan, expressed hope that the situation in Sudan would improve soon.
“I hope to go back there once everything settles peacefully to continue my work, and hopefully, the conflict will come to an end for the good of all,” she said.
Over 400 people have reportedly been killed and over 3,500 injured since the armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out on April 15.
