Sudan: Fruit Vendor Dies After Tear Gas Fired at Protesters

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2019-02-18

A Sudanese fruit vendor died in Khartoum Sunday from inhaling tear gas fired at protesters.

Medics and the vendor's family said the 62-year-old resident of Bahari, a northern suburb of the Sudanese capital, died in the hospital after choking on tear gas. The tear gas was fired at scores of protesters quickly after they took to the streets Sunday.

Protests in Sudan began on December 19, when the government increased the price of bread threefold. Since then, demonstrations, and subsequent violent clashes between protesters and riot police, have continued and ballooned into wider calls for long-time president Omar al-Bashir to step down.

Sudan's government says 31 people have died in protest-related violence since December, but international watchdog Human Rights Watch puts the death toll at 51.

Sudan is slated to hold presidential elections in 2020, and Bashir is considering running for a third elected term. Bashir has ruled the country since 1993, when he declared himself president after a coup d'etat.

Source: Voice of America

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