Police in Sudan have launched an inquiry into an accident in which 31 people were killed and 48 injured. The victims died in a stampede as they rushed to get charity donations being distributed on Saturday to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The incident happened in the city of Port Sudan, about 1,200 km (750 miles) northeast of the capital Khartoum. A police statement on Sunday said 15 women, 12 children and four men suffocated in the stampede. The statement said the incident happened as hundreds of people crammed into a narrow street in Port Sudan when a wealthy local family began handing out zakat (alms). On Sunday, government-owned al-Anbaa newspaper quoted a senior local health official as saying it was necessary to start distributing alms in an organised manner to prevent further tragedies. Port Sudan - the country's main port on the Red Sea - is one of the most impoverished areas in the country. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Sudan map.