The United Arab Emirates flew its nationals, citizens of other nations, and humanitarian cases out of Sudan as part of the influx of people escaping a conflict that started two weeks earlier.

Around 128 evacuees, including British and American citizens, arrived in Abu Dhabi, the country’s capital, and were welcomed there by officials.

The UAE will host the evacuees until they can be transferred to their own countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said.

“Khartoum is starting to be empty. We no longer felt secure, people were breaking into homes, they would break and loot,” said Nagham Hayati, a Sudanese woman who had left Sudan on the plane.

Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands wounded in Sudan since April 15 when a long-simmering power struggle between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted into conflict.

“The situation is very bad, we didn’t expect it … There was fire in the streets, fire in the houses, in the cars. After two, three days of this, the RSF had a shortage of food, water and power, so they started to invade homes,” said Sudanese national Marwan Ghandour on landing in Abu Dhabi.

The UAE said it was committed to serving the interests of the Sudanese people, stressing the importance of intensifying ceasefire efforts and a return to an agreed political framework.

Until the fighting broke out, Sudan had been engaged in an internationally-backed transition toward democratic elections.