ACCIDENT | Officials say Ezzidin Tago, Philippine ambassador to Egypt, Djibouti, and Sudan, and Vice Consul Bojer Capati, were on their way to Sudan when their car, seen here being towed, “rolled over twice” after they swerved to avoid a road marker. Both are unhurt. (Photo courtesy of Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega)
MANILA, Philippines — Rushing to help evacuate Filipinos from strife-torn Sudan, two Philippine diplomats figured in a major road accident in Egypt.
Both officials were unhurt and managed to continue on their mission, officials said on Wednesday.
Ezzidin Tago, the country’s ambassador to Egypt, Djibouti, and Sudan, was with Vice Consul Bojer Capati on their way to the Sudanese border to facilitate the entry of several hundred Filipino evacuees when their vehicle lost control and crashed, Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said.
“In fact, in their rush to get to [the] border by car to help incoming Filipinos cross through, Ambassador Tago and Vice Consul Capati got [into] an accident where their car rolled over two times,” De Vega said.
“They were rushing south and tried to swerve to avoid a marker but still hit it, 200 kilometers from Cairo at about midnight last night,” he told the Inquirer.
Tago and Capati did not suffer any major injury, although the latter had to be examined for back pains at the hospital, De Vega added.
The two officials were well enough to continue the trip for the evacuation of more than 300 Filipinos looking to cross the border and seek shelter at the Philippine Embassy in Cairo before being repatriated to the Philippines via commercial flights.
Transport, rent problems
Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said the accident was not related to the internal power struggle plaguing the Northeast African nation.
But the lack of available transport for evacuation due to the scarcity of bus providers and increasing rental prices remain a challenge, Daza said.
Seven buses have been contracted for the evacuation and efforts are being made to secure more buses, she added.
Another problem in repatriating the Filipinos “is the LONG processing at [the] Egyptian border! Taking over a day. Our Embassy is sending teams to try to fix it,” De Vega said.
According to Daza, 80 Filipinos have already left Sudan while 270 Filipinos are still waiting for repatriation flights. A total of 740 Filipinos were in Sudan as of April.
Daza disclosed that one Filipino was wounded in the hand by a stray bullet but has since received treatment.
Migrant Secretary Workers Susan Ople has flown to Sudan to help in the repatriation of Filipinos.
The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) is also coordinating with Saudi Arabia to help find temporary jobs for the displaced Filipinos.
“The DMW will have different groups made by officials to address these times of crises and scarcity in resources, to help evacuate our OFWs to a safer place” Ople said.
Promised $200 aid
She also promised to give $200 to those who had already crossed the Egyptian border and help the displaced Filipinos’ reintegration back into the Philippines.
Fighting flared anew in Sudan late on Tuesday despite a ceasefire declaration by the warring factions in the military government as more people fled Khartoum in the chaos.
The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire beginning on Tuesday after negotiations mediated by the United States and Saudi Arabia.
But gunfire and explosions could be heard after nightfall in Omdurman, one of Khartoum’s sister cities on the Nile River where the army used drones to target RSF positions, a Reuters reporter said.
United Nations Special Envoy for Sudan Volker Perthes told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that the ceasefire “seems to be holding in some parts so far.”
But he said that neither party showed readiness to “seriously negotiate, suggesting that both think that securing a military victory over the other is possible.”
“This is a miscalculation,” Perthes said, adding that Khartoum’s airport was operational but the tarmac damaged.
Fighting has killed at least 459 people and wounded more than 4,000 across Africa’s third-biggest country, according to UN agencies.
Sudan, one of the world’s poorest nations, has a history of military coups.
The RSF emerged from the Janjaweed militia that then President Omar al-Bashir unleashed in the Darfur region two decades ago.
The fighting left some neighborhoods of greater Khartoum in ruins, prompting thousands of foreigners and Sudanese to flee.
As combat eased in the city of 5 million, foreign governments have been organizing road convoys, aircraft, and ships to get thousands of their nationals out.