(NEW YORK) — Family members of two U.S. citizens who were trapped in Sudan and had to endure major obstacles to leave the country are grateful they’re now in Egypt.
Imad, a Bay area resident who asked ABC News not to disclose his full name, said his parents Ahmed, 74, and Nafisa, 66, who are dual U.S.-Sudanese citizens, were in the country for the last few months trying to sell a property before retiring fully in America.
On Tuesday evening, Imad told ABC News his parents just crossed the Egyptian border and are out of Sudan.
Imad said last week he spoke to his father after he was missing for a few hours, when the fighting was getting more ferocious in a mall in Khartoum.
“He had to quickly find the escape plan,” Imad told ABC News.
Ahmed was able to stay in a hotel for two days while Nafisa hid in another part of the city, according to Imad.
“So when we speak to him on the phone, you would hear the bombs going off[ and] you would hear the heavy artillery,” Imad said, adding that he and his family felt helpless trying to help their parents thousands of miles away.
“I don’t think anyone would imagine their parents in a war zone and out of nowhere,” he said.
Imad’s family told Ahmed to make a run for it before the fighting got worse, and through the help of some other family members and other Sudanese families, made it to a borough north of the country.
After two days of hiding in the burrow, in territory controlled by the Rapid Support Forces, Ahmed walked for more than three hours to reunite with Nafisa, according to Imad.
“It was over 100 [degrees]. He got stopped a couple of times [at] checkpoints along the way. The RSF stopped them but he was able to cross the bridge… and safely make it to my mom in one piece,” Imad said.
The National Security Council has urged Americans stuck in Sudan to stay in place and diplomats were evacuated out of the country over the weekend.
“They don’t have any food. They just had to make a run for it,” Imad said.
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