Sudan has appealed for urgent international assistance after a massive landslide destroyed an entire village in the Darfur region, killing an estimated 1,000 people in one of the country’s deadliest natural disasters in recent history.
The tragedy struck on Sunday in Tarasin, a remote community in Central Darfur’s Marrah Mountains, following days of heavy rainfall. The Sudan Liberation Movement-Army (SLM-A) said the village was “completely leveled to the ground,” with only one person surviving.
“Initial information indicates the death of all village residents, estimated to be more than 1,000 people,” the group said, as it appealed to the United Nations and international aid agencies for help in recovering bodies and supporting survivors.
Abdel-Wahid Nour, the SLM-A leader, described the disaster as overwhelming. “The scale and magnitude of the disaster are immense and defy description,” he said on Tuesday.
The Sovereign Council in Khartoum also expressed condolences, mourning “the death of hundreds of innocent residents” and pledging to mobilize “all possible capabilities” to support the affected area.
Footage from local media showed flattened ground between mountain ranges, with villagers searching through rubble.
Luca Renda, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, said he was “deeply saddened” by reports of the landslide. He noted that local sources suggested “between 300 and 1,000 people may have lost their lives,” and confirmed that the U.N. and its partners were mobilizing support.
A local emergency network working across Sudan said its teams had so far recovered nine bodies but faced major obstacles reaching the disaster zone due to poor weather and limited resources.
The landslide adds to the mounting humanitarian crisis in Sudan, where war, displacement, and food insecurity have already left millions in dire need.
