Returnees camped on roadsides in Upper Nile State. | Photo: Sarah Michael.

More than 9,000 South Sudanese returnees and refugees from the region poured into Renk County of Upper Nile State in two days after fleeing the fighting in Sudan, local authorities said.

Renk County Commissioner Kak Padiet said majority of the returnees are women and children.

Padiet said the county received 6,000 returnees on Saturday and 3,000 on Sunday.

“Yesterday [Saturday], about six thousand arrived, and we were distributing food and basic items to them. Today, in the morning, about three thousand returnees from the war in Sudan arrived,” he said.

The commissioner said they stationed the civilians at Upper Nile University College of Agriculture in Renk.

Among the returnees are citizens of Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, and Ethiopia, the official said.

Padiet called on the government and humanitarian organizations to provide humanitarian assistance, adding that the county authorities are overwhelmed by the situation.

“We are suffering from a fuel crisis to deport them, and so far, humanitarian organizations have not failed to help, and we are using our limited resources. Most of the returnees are women and children, and we suffer from deteriorating humanitarian conditions. ”

“We transfer the returnees and settle them at Upper Nile University. This crisis and these numbers are greater than the capacity of the county and even the state.

According to him, more returnees were expected to arrive in the coming days.

The war in Sudan between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) entered the second week.

Hundreds have been killed and thousands wounded since the fighting erupted last Saturday.

Foreign governments including European countries, Japan, and the US are evacuating their nationals from Khartoum amid ongoing street fighting.