Nyala, October 10 (Darfur24)
A six-month-old infant, Ahmed Yahya, died on Tuesday in a stampede at a mosquito net distribution center in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur, according to eyewitnesses.
Sources told Darfur24 that the infant suffocated due to severe overcrowding in the distribution line in the Al-Wahda neighborhood while being carried on his mother’s back.
Witnesses added that several people fainted and others suffered fractures during the stampede, before the Rapid Support Forces’ military police intervened to disperse the crowd.
A mosquito net distribution campaign began earlier this week in Nyala Municipality and Nyala North Locality and is scheduled to continue for ten days. Municipal officials warned that anyone found selling the nets in the market would be penalized.
Traders previously told Darfur24 that a large quantity of mosquito nets leaked into markets last August, where they were collected and transported to traditional mining areas in southern and northern Nyala.
Citizen Nour El-Din Idris criticized the authorities for delaying the distribution, noting that residents had registered for the nets as early as August.