Khartoum (Hornpost) A landslide has destroyed a village in Sudan’s western Darfur region, killing an estimated 1,000 people — meaning the entire village population perished.
It is considered one of the deadliest natural disasters in the country’s recent history, according to a rebel group controlling the area on Monday afternoon.
“The village of Tarasin has been ‘completely leveled,’” said the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) forces, as they appealed to the United Nations and international aid agencies for help in recovering the bodies.
The tragedy struck the village on Sunday in the Marrah Mountains of Central Darfur, after days of heavy torrential rains.
“Initial reports indicate the death of all the village’s residents, estimated at more than 1,000 people,” the rebel group said in a statement. “One person survived,” they added.
The ruling council in Khartoum expressed sorrow over the “death of hundreds of innocent people” in the Marrah Mountains landslide. Their statement said that “all possible resources” were being mobilized to support the affected area.
Footage circulated by the Marrah Mountain News Network showed devastated land between mountain ranges, with groups of people searching for bodies at the scene.
Luca Renda, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, said he was “deeply saddened” by the reported landslide, adding that local sources indicated “between 300 and 1,000 people may have lost their lives.” He said the UN and its partners were mobilizing to support the affected communities.
A local emergency network, which has been assisting communities across Sudan during the conflict, said its teams recovered nine bodies on Tuesday. “Search teams faced major obstacles reaching the area due to bad weather and lack of resources,” it added.
“An Unprecedented Disaster”
Al-Amin Abdallah Abbas, a farmer from Ammo — a cluster of villages including Tarasin — said heavy rains had been falling for weeks, with Tarasin suffering the worst. He said local tribal and community leaders had organized recovery and burial efforts.
“The village and its people are gone,” he said. “It is an unprecedented disaster.”
Mohamed Abdel-Rahman al-Nair, spokesperson for the Sudan Liberation Movement, told the Associated Press that the affected village is remote and accessible only on foot or by donkey.
Tarasin lies in the central Marrah Mountains, a volcanic region over 3,000 meters (9,840 feet) above sea level. The mountain range is known for its cooler climate and higher rainfall compared to surrounding areas, UNICEF notes. It is located more than 900 kilometers (560 miles) west of the capital, Khartoum.
Sunday’s landslide ranks among the deadliest natural disasters in Sudan’s recent history. Every year, seasonal rains between July and October kill hundreds. Last year’s heavy rains caused the collapse of a dam in the Red Sea State, killing at least 30 people, according to the UN.
The disaster comes as Sudan is gripped by a brutal civil war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which erupted in April 2023 in Khartoum and spread nationwide.
“Aid Still Inadequate”
Much of conflict-torn Darfur is beyond the reach of the UN and aid groups due to severe restrictions and the ongoing fighting between Sudan’s army and the RSF.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has warned that many communities in Darfur, including the Marrah Mountains, have been cut off for more than two years, describing these areas as a “black hole” in Sudan’s humanitarian response.
In a July report, MSF said people in these communities “have not received adequate aid and have been abandoned by humanitarian actors for over two years.”
The Sudan Liberation Movement, based in the Marrah Mountains, is one of several rebel groups operating in Darfur and Kordofan. It has not sided with either warring faction.
The Marrah Mountains — a volcanic chain 160 kilometers (100 miles) southwest of El-Fasher — have become a refuge for families displaced by fighting around the besieged city and surrounding areas.
On Monday, the RSF shelled El-Fasher, the army’s last stronghold in Darfur, killing at least 18 people and wounding more than 100, according to the Sudan Doctors Network, a group of medical professionals monitoring the war.
Hornpost staff Reporter
