Egypt has dispatched a military plane loaded with medical supplies to flood-hit Sudan, the country's health minister Hala Zayed said late on Tuesday.

The shipment included 14 tons of vitamins, antibiotics, sedatives, antipyretic drugs, and surgical supplies, health ministry's spokesperson Khaled Megahed said.

Another medical aid shipment is set to be sent to Sudan within few days, he added.

The country has been badly battered by heavy rains this week. 

Heavy rains typically hit Sudan between June and October each year. At least 63 people have been killed since July, with thousands more forced from their homes by the seasonal storms.

Over 14,000 homes and 119 public buildings were destroyed, while more than 16,000 homes have been badly damaged, government civil defence organisations calculate, according to the Sudanese interior ministery.