A Massachusetts travel writer is one of thousands of Americans caught up in the fighting in Sudan, as the conflict between two rival generals threatens to erupt into all-out civil war.

“There were power outages, no running water, no access to cash. So I left with only $20,” Lakshmi Parthasarathy, 32, told NBC News on Tuesday after hitchhiking south.

With approximately 16,000 US citizens in the country before violence erupted nearly two weeks ago, the rush to evacuate diplomats in recent days has left many behind to fend for themselves in the vast, resource-rich African country.

Civilians described frantic efforts to escape sporadic fighting in the capital Khartoum despite a new three-day truce.

“The city was complete chaos when I left,” Parthasarathy, who is from New Bedford, said via video message from a school that has been turned into a small refugee camp near Khartoum. Trips to evacuation ports cost thousands of dollars, he said.

She described seeing tank-like vehicles carrying civilians, including Sudanese desperately seeking to flee to neighboring countries by land or sea, attempting the perilous journey out of the capital.

“There were women, children, families escaping from the villages along the way. At the time I thought only Khartoum had seen the most destruction, but we saw towns that had clearly been devastated by war,” Parthasarathy said.

Lakshmi Parthasarathy has been documenting her time in Sudan through video.nbc news

As civilians searched for ways to escape, fearing rival camps would escalate their power struggle once evacuations are complete, the World Health Organization issued a sobering warning.

There was a «high risk of biohazard» after one side in the fighting seized a laboratory, the agency’s representative in Sudan said on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

The two armed groups have been locked in a battle for control of Sudan, using artillery, airstrikes and bullets in a conflict that has left millions of people caught in the crossfire.

More than 420 people have been killed in the violence, including one American, since fighting broke out this month, according to the World Health Organization.

“We must all do everything in our power to pull Sudan back from the brink,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday.

A stream of foreign powers followed through with the rescues, often involving special military forces, airlifts and convoys passing fighters on both sides.

Different nationalities fleeing Sudan sit inside a Spanish Air Force plane heading to Madrid
A Spanish Air Force plane transported evacuees from Sudan to Madrid on Monday. A European airlift has taken out a wide range of private citizens from many countries.Spanish Ministry of Defense via AP

The US military evacuated embassy staff over the weekend, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that the US was considering resuming a diplomatic presence in the country to help citizens Americans, many of whom are dual nationals. He said the State Department was in contact with private US citizens to help them find safe routes.

The United States was also helping its citizens to leave Port Sudan, the embassy in Khartoum said on Tuesday. Twitteradding that «border crossings into neighboring countries are possible, but the routes may be unpredictable or dangerous.»

Blinken said that some convoys had been robbed and looted.

The Sudanese army, commanded by General Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the rival Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, said on Tuesday they would observe a ceasefire brokered by the United States and Saudi Arabia.

But with reports and accusations that the truce was being partially respected at best, those who were able to flee scrambled to safety.

Jordanians evacuated from Sudan arrive at a military airport in Amman, Jordan
Civilians evacuated from Sudan arrived at a military airport in Amman, Jordan, on Monday. Foreign powers have tried to use a lull in the fighting to drive out the citizens.Raad Adayleh/AP

Thamir Saad Mohamed said he had been sending constant emails to the US Embassy requesting help to evacuate his nephews Sajid and Ahmed, ages 2 and 5, who are US citizens.

“I don’t know what will happen in Sudan,” said Mohamed, a Saudi national, adding that he was afraid of losing his family. Her sister, Aya Mohamed, a US citizen, had left the two children with her sister the day before the fighting broke out, she said.

So far, the family has only received an automated response, he said.

When asked for comment on his case, the State Department said: «The US Department of State and our embassies and consulates abroad have no higher priority than the safety of American citizens abroad.» and advised US citizens to provide their contact information in a shape on the embassy website.

Denise Bowers, a schoolteacher and US citizen living in the Sudanese capital, said she was woken up for days by windows rattling from nearby explosions. Faced with shortages of water, food and energy, she was now trying to cross the border and reach an airport with her husband.

«This has been so surreal. We are out of Khartoum, a 23-hour journey on a crowded bus through horrible and terrifying situations,» Bowers said in messages sent over the patchy internet.

Aboard a Kenyan Air Force plane, the first batch of Kenyans evacuated from Sudan arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, Kenya.
The first group of evacuees from Kenya arrived in Nairobi on Monday.Brian Inganga/AP

Sudan’s main international airport has been badly damaged and closed for commercial operations, forcing many to seek alternative routes.

While travel to these airfields and land borders was possible, the highways pass through some of the most contested parts of the country. Khartoum is located about 520 miles from Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

“There is no way out of Khartoum,” said Musa Osman El Sayeed, describing his anxiety about making the dangerous journey with his four children and his wife. “They can shoot you, anything can happen to you in the street,” he said. saying.

“All the streets are occupied by the militias,” he said, adding that he was happy that the foreigners were able to leave Sudan safely to be with their families.

El Sayeed, 55, said neighbors had described seeing bodies lying in the streets for days. An auditor in the capital before the fighting shut down daily life, said he would try to get out as soon as he felt he was safe.

«If this war continues for two or three more months, most of the Sudanese are going to die of poverty because the situation is very, very difficult,» he added.