Landmark office tower burns in Sudan’s capital turned into urban war zone
Cairo: An 18-storey landmark office building in the centre of Sudan’s capital has been engulfed by fire as fighting between the military and a rival paramilitary force enters its sixth month.
The Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower, situated in the Khartoum CBD, caught fire early on Sunday, Sudan time, during clashes between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces, according to Sudanese media.
The Greater Nile Petroleum Oil Company Tower in the centre of Khartoum, Sudan, on fire on September 19.Credit: Screengrab/BBC
It’s unclear how the fire started or if anyone was killed.
Online footage of the blaze showed clouds of dark smoke rising from the burnt-out glass-paneled tower, one of the tallest buildings in the Sudanese capital.
The senior architect for the tower, Tagreed Abdin, posted on X, formely Twitter, that she was heartbroken at the “senseless destruction”.
“The landmark project defines the skyline of Khartoum,” she posted along with some photos of the building before the fire.
The offices of the Sudanese Standards and Metrology Organisation were also set alight, the Agence France-Presse reported.
Sudan has been rocked by violence since mid-April, when tensions between the country’s military, led by General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, commanded by General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, burst into open fighting.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/africa/landmark-office-tower-burns-in-sudan-as-rival-forces-take-battle-to-the-streets-20230918-p5e5q5.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_world Landmark office tower burns in Sudan’s capital turned into urban war zone
