Reporter unexpectedly finds her uncle among evacuees in heartwarming moment: 'That's my uncle!'

Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 28, 2023. It has since been updated.

In a touching moment, a reporter had an unplanned reunion with her uncle after he was evacuated from conflict-stricken Sudan while live on air on April 27, 2023. Sky News’ Africa correspondent, Yousra Elbagir, was reporting from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia when she spotted her relative among the crowds of evacuees at the King Faisal Naval Base.

While reporting, Elbagir can be heard saying, "Maybe we do one more interview," before suddenly exclaiming, "On my god, that’s my uncle!" She rushes through the crowd with the camera following her before crying out, “Uncle!” Within seconds, she pulled him into an emotional embrace as he kissed her head.

Mohsin, a Sudanese-American surgeon, reportedly boarded in Port Sudan to escape the fighting in Khartoum. According to the video shared by Sky News, Elbagir’s uncle immediately started asking if she was OK, and she replied, "I’m good!" He kissed her cheek and said, "God bless you." They hugged, and Elbagir said, "I didn’t know that you came here."

"We went yesterday. Thank God," he explained. As she prepared to move away, Elbagir said she would pass on the news to her mother and added, "One day, we will all be in Sudan together, God willing." According to The Guardian, Sudan was plunged into a violent crisis as a fight broke out between the two factions of the ruling military regime. The shooting began on April 15, 2023 and 25 people were killed in clashes during the firings between the Sudanese armed forces and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Force (RSF). 

The Sudanese armed forces are loyal to Abdulfatah al-Burhan, the current de facto ruler of Sudan, while RSF, a collection of militia, follow Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, better known as Hemedti. “It’s calmed down a bit but does not feel like it will peter out. They started shooting in the early hours and I thought this still could be skirmishes but then the air force got involved and both commanders went on television and did not use language that indicated they wanted to find a peaceful solution,” said Kholood Khair, an analyst in Khartoum.

“There’s a lot of war propaganda and misinformation on both sides, but many countries in the region see this in terms of an endgame military with Sudanese armed forces outgunning the RSF. Hemedti may also have overestimated his popular support. People in Sudan want to see democracy but don’t believe that either of these actors is going to bring it." Hemedti told the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera Arabic network that Gen al-Burhan was “a liar” who would be brought “to justice like a dog”. United Nations Secretary-general, António Guterres, called for an immediate end to the violence and spoke with leaders of Sudan’s army and paramilitary RSF, Egypt’s president and the chair of the African Union Commission.

These disturbances have their roots in the power struggles before the 2019 uprising that ousted dictatorial ruler Omar al-Bashir. After his fall, a showdown was inevitable, with diplomats in Khartoum warning in early 2022 that they feared such an outbreak of violence. Military jets were flying from an airbase in Omdurman, while heavy gunfire could be heard throughout the city. Yassir al-Awad, a father of four daughters and a resident of Khartoum, said that the city was witnessing a "power struggle between military leaders."

“The Sudanese people should not take part, but sadly we have been dragged into it, as Sudanese people we do not have any interest in this. Whichever one wins, we are the losers at the end,” al-Awad said.