This Toronto family narrowly escaped Sudan's conflict with the help of their community online

A trip to Sudan to observe Ramadan and celebrate Eid al-Fitr with family turned into a nightmare for Toronto woman Dalia Abbadi, when violence broke out between Sudan's military and a paramilitary group in mid-April.

But on Sunday, Abbadi received an email her family had desperately been waiting for.

The Canadian government had secured seats both for Abbadi and her parents on a flight to the Netherlands. From Sudan's capital of Khartoum, they just had to make it to a nearby airbase — a task complicated by closed bridges and military checkpoints that, if not handled carefully, could threaten their escape out of a country grappling with sudden conflict.

"Sudan has had a history, you know, of maybe some conflict, but not like this ... This is not like any other time before," Abbadi told CBC's Metro Morning on Friday.

With the help of family and strangers online, Abbadi says her family charted out a path to escape the rapidly deteriorating situation in the east African country.

Abbadi says members of the Sudan diaspora across the world have been mobilizing online to share information about the conflict and possible paths of escape for the benefit of those stuck in the country.

It was from asking others who knew the area and some who made the journey out of Sudan before them that Abbadi and her family settled on path to get to the airbase. What should've been an hour-long trip took almost three times that, she added.

WATCH: Toronto woman recalls harrowing journey leaving sudden violence in Sudan

They arrived to find their flight to the Netherlands left without them, but were able to board one headed to Germany instead. Her relatives couldn't board the same flight and opted to try to leave for Egypt.

It was painful to leave knowing she couldn't bring her loved ones with her, Abbadi said. 

"I don't know if you would say survivor's guilt, but that guilt of being able to leave... leaving part of my heart," said Abbadi, her voice faltering. "They're my family. They looked out for us."

On April 15, dozens were killed and hundreds were wounded as a result of fighting between Sudan's army and a paramilitary force, serving a new blow to hopes of a transition to democracy and raising fears of a wider conflict.

According to The Associated Press, the violence comes after months of escalating tensions between Sudan's armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group. Those tensions had delayed a deal with political parties to get the country back to its short-lived transition to democracy, which had been derailed by an October 2021 military coup.

Since then, the World Health Organization said that more than 420 deaths and 3,700 injuries have been reported. Canada began its long-anticipated humanitarian mission in the country on Thursday, which is now in the midst of a precarious ceasefire between the two warring factions.