Sudan: Four-Day Blackout Disrupts Hospital Services, Livelihoods in Sudan's White Nile State

What the report says

Residents of El Dueim in Sudan’s White Nile state are dealing with the fallout from a four-day electricity outage that followed a drone attack on the Mashkour substation on 26 October, according to Dabanga, which said the blackout disrupted health services and local livelihoods. The city later returned to a rotating power schedule, but people described continued instability in supply and lingering damage from the interruption.

At El Dueim Hospital, staff relied on generators to keep surgical operations and lighting running during the outage. A hospital employee told Radio Dabanga that this required scarce and expensive diesel, increasing operating costs. By contrast, the city’s dialysis centre was able to keep functioning through a solar power system, which staff said had previously been arranged with help from charitable donors and the administration.

The blackout also hit workshops and market businesses in the industrial area and central market. Furniture makers, grain-milling operators and meat-mincing machine owners said work stopped completely, leaving them unable to deliver paid orders or earn daily income. Some said they had to borrow money to cover basic household needs, while others faced losses, refunds or missed deadlines.

Dabanga said the power supply began returning after maintenance and repair work at the substation, but residents still faced an alternating electricity arrangement between eastern and western networks. The episode highlights how attacks on energy infrastructure can quickly affect hospitals, small businesses and daily-wage workers in conflict-affected areas.