In an exclusive interview with Eyewitness News, Brandon Wallace, a father of four, opens up about the horror that comes with war.
JOHANNESBURG – "If I had to describe my ordeal of getting out of Sudan in one word, it would be ‘terrifying’ – absolutely terrifying."
Those are the words of Durbanite, Brandon Wallace, who together with dozens of other South Africans, managed to navigate his way out of war-stricken Sudan.
When the war erupted, Wallace spent days in his apartment in Sudan’s capital of Khartoum, as fighter jets circled above him dropping bombs and bullets were being fired in every direction.
A tank on the street in Sudan. Picture: Brandon Wallace
In an exclusive interview with Eyewitness News, the father of four opens up about the horror that comes with war.
The sounds of explosions as fighter jets flash through the night sky and that of gunfire ripping through the street reverberate through Wallace’s tiny apartment in Khartoum as he sits quietly praying that he lives to tell his tale.
"Fighter jets flying over you bombing in the same street you live in, bombing right next to your house… guns firing in all directions, coming, going, snipers in the buildings next to you – absolutely terrifying."
Wallace had been in the country since January where he was working as a manager for a car manufacturer.
Brandon Wallace (seated, in white) with other South Africans at the Egyptian border. Picture: Brandon Wallace
He said that there was only one thing that kept him going as they traversed 900km by bus to get to the Egyptian border – the thought of getting home to his wife and kids.
"On evacuation, a lot of bodies lying in the streets, blood all over the streets. It was chaos and carnage, bodies lying everywhere."
Wallace and 45 other South Africans were successfully taken over the Egyptian border with the assistance of the Gift of the Givers and the South African government.
They are expected to be repatriated back to South Africa soon.
