A bus carrying about 50 Filipinos who were caught in the middle of the clashes in Sudan has left the country's capital Khartoum for the northern border with Egypt, a spokeswoman for the Philippine Foreign Ministry said today (Tuesday).

"At 8 pm Manila time yesterday, the first batch (about 50 Filipinos) left Khartoum by land," spokeswoman Teresita Daza said.

From the border, Daza explained that the Filipinos will be transferred to the city of Aswan and then to the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

In turn, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Eduardo de Vega said in a radio interview today (Tuesday) that the Philippine embassy in Cairo will provide accommodation and plane tickets for Filipinos.

According to de Vega, there are about 700 Filipinos in Sudan according to the latest census. However, he noted that only about 300 Filipinos expressed their desire to leave Sudan.

He confirmed that the bus left Khartoum on its way to the border, adding that "traveling from Khartoum to the border takes about 20 hours. It's about 1,000 km."

In addition to the first batch of 50 Filipinos included in the evacuation process, de Vega indicated that at least 20 Filipinos were expelled from Sudan by their employers, indicating that the priority of the Philippines is to expel the Filipinos from Sudan with the validity of the ceasefire and return them to their homes.

Violent clashes broke out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces on April 15 in the capital, Khartoum, and elsewhere.

The Sudanese Ministry of Health said that the bloody clashes left more than 400 dead and about 4,000 wounded.