A Sudanese soldier fatally shot the occupants of a tuk-tuk that sped through a military checkpoint in Khartoum during a coronavirus curfew, the army said Sunday.

"A speeding motorised rickshaw drove through a military checkpoint in Khartoum without stopping... at 9:00 pm" Saturday evening, army spokesman Brigadier Amer Mohamed al-Hassan said in a brief statement.

"As they ignored instructions to stop, a soldier opened fire, injuring those aboard."

He said the two people in the vehicle were taken to hospital, where they died.

Authorities imposed a strict round-the-clock curfew in Khartoum for three weeks from April 18 to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, extending the curfew earlier this month for another 10 days.

The capital and its twin city Omdurman have a combined population of more than five million.

Sudan has reported 2,289 cases of the COVID-19 illness, including 97 deaths.

The army apologised for Saturday evening's incident and said the soldier had been detained pending an investigation.

Since March, Sudan has imposed a state of emergency, shuttering schools and universities and almost completely sealing off its borders.

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