KHARTOUM, 10 November 2003 — At least 31 people were killed in a stampede sparked by struggle for alms being distributed in Sudan’s main port city, a government-owned newspaper reported yesterday.
The Arabic-language Al-Anbaa quoted eyewitnesses as saying that the stampede on Saturday in Port Sudan, some 1,200 kilometers northeast of Khartoum, also injured 46 people. The stampede happened as crowds scrambled for zakah which was being distributed by a local businessman’s family in a narrow Port Sudan street.
“The scramble of the citizens during the incident caused suffocation,” the daily wrote. The newspaper quoted Al-Sadek Al-Malik, a senior health official in the Red Sea state, as saying it was necessary to distribute alms in an organized manner to prevent a repeat of such an incident. Port Sudan is the capital of the Red Sea state.
