Sudanese actress Asia Abdelmajid killed in Khartoum cross-fire

Dubai: Veteran Sudanese actress Asia Abdelmajid was killed in a crossfire in the north of Khartoum, on Wednesday. She was 81.

It is not yet known who fired the shot that killed her in the clashes in the northern suburb of Bahri.

Her death has shocked residents of Sudan. Asia was famous for her theatre performances – as she first came to prominence in the 1965 production of the play Pamseeka.

The play was put on at the national theatre in Omdurman to mark the anniversary of Sudan’s first revolution against a coup leader.

Asia was considered a pioneer of the stage - and the country’s first professional stage actress before she retired later and become a teacher.

She was buried within hours of her shooting on Wednesday morning in the grounds of a kindergarten where she had been most recently working, because it was too dangerous to take her to a cemetery.