July 28 (Reuters) - In early May, a loud explosion rocked Shambat, a neighborhood to the north of Sudan’s capital of Khartoum. Locals rushed to douse the flames devouring a makeshift dwelling that they say was ignited in an air strike.

They were too late. Amid the smoldering debris, according to five witnesses, were the charred bodies of a pregnant woman, a man and five children. Following the May 7 attack, the woman and children were buried at the site and the man at a nearby cemetery, two of the witnesses said.

The seven victims of the Shambat strike share something in common with many of the fatalities in the war that has ravaged Sudan since mid-April: They are not included in the official death count in Khartoum State, which has seen most of the fighting between the Sudanese army and the country’s main paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). With the conflict having shattered local health and government services, the entities that would usually register fatalities are largely disabled.

A Reuters tally of death figures recorded by local activists and volunteer groups indicates that the civilian death toll for the wider capital may be more than double the official count, underscoring the devastating impact of the more than 100-day long war on the Sudanese people.