Nevada family working to get son out of Sudan amid violence
By Shawna Khalafi
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LAS VEGAS, Nevada (KVVU) — Violence in Sudan is hitting close to home for a couple in Pahrump, whose son is stuck in Sudan with his wife and 12-year-old daughter.
Eric Fritts Jr. and his wife are both teachers in Sudan, who’ve seen frightening changes in the country in recent weeks as violent clashes continue.
Eric is a US Army and Air Force veteran who served in Kuwait, so he’s all too familiar with the dangers his family is facing.
“My daughter-in-law and my granddaughter, they were probably scared out of their minds. I mean, to have this happen right where you’re at, it’s horrific,” said his father, Eric Fritts Sr.
Amid clashes in Sudan, the US closed its embassy and airlifted diplomats and their families out by helicopter on Sunday.
However, US officials said getting an estimated 16,000 US citizens out was too risky and advised them to shelter in place.
That’s exactly what Eric’s mother was told when she wrote to the embassy for help.
“They said, ‘Tell them to stay put, go on a lower level, and stay away from the windows.’ You’re not going to help them?!” said Lucretia Fritts.
“You don’t do that to me and then tell me that you care about your citizens. That’s not true as far as I’m concerned. You don’t care if you’re just going to abandon them like that,” said Eric Sr.
So Eric and his family made their way 85 miles without any assistance, running low on food and water for three days until they reached a small town near the Egyptian border.
“They were in such a rush to get out, they forgot their passports, and they couldn’t go back because the place was being bombed at the time,” said Lucretia.
Eric was able to get copies of their passports, but even so, they’re still having issues reaching the embassy in Egypt for help crossing the border.
Lucretia says she’s now in contact with Senator Catherine Cortez Masto trying to get them out of Sudan and back to safety.
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