Firefighters have contained a large blaze that took place in a cargo area of the Sudanese Red Sea port of Suakin.
The fire broke out in the cargo drop off area of the port on Wednesday sending plumes of acrid smoke into the sky. It was not immediately clear what was the cause of the fire.
The fire has been brought under control following the intervention of civil defense forces and port workers
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port director Taha Ahmed Mokhtar said, adding that an investigation has been launched to determine the cause of the fire, while a commission will assess the scale of the losses.
The port town of Suakin is no longer Sudan’s main foreign trade hub, a role which has been taken by Port Sudan, some 60 kilometers (40 miles) away along the Red Sea coast.
But there have been moves to redevelop the port. In fact, Bashir’s government signed a deal with Turkey in 2017 to restore the historic buildings of Suakin island and expand its docks, but the agreement has been suspended since his overthrow.
