'They were so scared': Chicago family escapes Sudan as deadly fighting rages on

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The good news is that the Hamad family is now safely in Egypt, and will return to Chicago in the coming days.

But, for them and thousands of other U.S. citizens trapped in Sudan when the fighting began on April 15, it's been nothing short of a nightmare.

"They arrived on Saturday at 1 a.m. Eight hours later, they woke up. The fighting had started," said Abubakr Hamad.

It was a trip five years in the making. Six members of one Chicago family traveled together, excited to introduce the newest members of the family to their relatives in Sudan.

"They were so scared. They didn't know what was going on and why it is happening," Abubakr said.

SEE ALSO | US continues mass evacuation effort from Sudan with 2nd convoy

Some 500 people have died, and more than 4,500 have been injured since fighting began between Sudan's armed forces and the RSF, a paramilitary group at odds with the government. On Sunday, an aircraft carrying eight tons of emergency medical aid landed in the country to resupply hospitals devastated by the fighting.

Trapped in the middle is Sudan's war-torn civilian population, including 16,000 U.S citizens. A series of cease-fires have allowed people to escape from the capital city of Khartoum, including hundreds of Americans, who, on Friday, were evacuated by the U.S Embassy in a convoy of buses headed to the Red Sea.

Unwilling to wait, many more have left on their own, including the Hamad family, who, after 11 days hunkering down with relatives without power or running water, chose to undertake a risky 600-mile journey north to the Egyptian border.

"That trip normally takes 18 to 20 hours driving from Khartoum to Cairo. It took them four days and seven hours," Abubakr said.

Family patriarch Abubakr said he's been communicating with his wife, two adult children, two grand-children and son-in-law multiple times a day, trying to ascertain their safety. The children were told only that they were on a road trip.

"The most I can have: three hours sleep. I've been in touch with them trying to help them, trying to calm them down," Abubakr said.

Fortunately, they can all calm down now. Another adult daughter has flown to UAE to meet the family as they begin their journey home to Chicago, where the family can celebrate - albeit a bit late - the end of Ramadan, the way they were due to with their family in Sudan before all of this started.