NHS workers with four children stranded in Sudan after missing evacuation flight to UK

Despite the dangers of being left behind, NHS workers Sarra Eljak, 38, her husband Mustafa Abbas, 44, said they was too risky to make the trip to the evacuation site with their children Danya, 12, Menna, 11, Anne, 7, and Mohammed, 6 months

Sarra Eljak and her husband Mustafa Abbas missed the last British evacuation flight from Sudan on Saturday (

Image: PA)

A mum and dad who both work for the NHS missed the last UK evacuation flight from Sudan on Saturday, saying the trip was 'too dangerous'.

Now they must find another way to escape the war-torn country.

The last chance for UK nationals to reach Wadi Saeedna airfield was Saturday at 11am UK time, with the last evacuation flight due to take off on Saturday evening.

Sarra Eljak, 38, her husband Mustafa Abbas, 44, and their four children are refugees in the town of Wad Madani, more than 220 km southeast of the evacuation trail.

Despite the dangers of being left behind, they said it was too risky to make the trip to the evacuation site with their children Danya, 12, Menna, 11, Anne, seven, and Mohammed, six months.

“It is extremely dangerous to reach the evacuation site and the area is still under attack,” Ms Eljak told the PA news agency.

"I can't take that risk with my kids. They should consider people with families.

"I don't want to put my children's lives in danger.

"I feel like we've been left without support."

Instead, the family faces a perilous 800 km journey to Port Sudan. From there they plan to cross the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia by boat before heading back to the UK from Jedda.

She said, "It's a very long journey for someone with a six-month-old baby and three other children."

Ms Eljak, from Slough, is a British citizen and works as a trainee GP at Spire Thames Valley Hospital. Her husband holds an Irish passport and works as an emergency medicine consultant at the University Hospital in Milton Keynes.

The family flew to Sudan on April 3 to spend the end of Ramadan with Ms. Eljak's extended family in central Khartoum.

They had planned to return on April 24, but when fighting broke out on April 15, they were stranded.

Ms Eljak said: "All of a sudden we woke up hearing gunfire and military helicopters everywhere.

"During the five days, we sat on the floor all day and couldn't sleep for more than a few minutes.

“Our front door was hit and we found the bullets inside the house.

"At any moment, you have the feeling that you are going to lose one of your family members."

The family decided to flee when they discovered that the soldiers were using the house next to Mrs. Eljak's family home as an arms depot to store weapons and explosives.

She said, "We thought if this house was knocked down, the fire would be everywhere." They left their car, clothes and most of their possessions behind and hired a coach to travel 200 km to Wad Madani on April 20.

Despite their relative safety from the conflict at the moment, Ms. Elkaj knows she and her family must find a way out soon.

She said, "I came with my six-month-old baby who was born premature. He's on some type of formula and now I'm out of it.

“This place where I am staying at the moment, there is a malaria pandemic.

"It's too much pressure."

Ms. Eljak worries about the impact of their ordeal on her children.

She said, "If they hear a door slam shut, they scream.

"They all went through different panic attacks. My eldest daughter, Danya, refused to eat and drink for four days.

"Every one of my children says that if they get to the UK safely, they will never come back to Sudan. It's been...