More than 1,000 people have been killed in a landslide that destroyed a village in western Sudan, according to a rebel group controlling the area.
The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM) said the disaster struck on Sunday after heavy rainfall triggered the collapse of the mountainside, wiping out the village of Tarasin in the Marra mountains. The group reported that only one person survived.
“Initial information indicates the death of all village residents, estimated to be more than 1,000 individuals, with only one survivor,” the movement said in a statement. “The village has now been completely levelled to the ground.”
Footage released by the Marra Mountains news outlet showed a flattened settlement between mountain ranges, with residents seen searching through the debris.
Al-Amin Abdallah Abbas, a farmer from Ammo, a cluster of villages that includes Tarasin, said the area had endured weeks of torrential rainfall. Tribal and community leaders from neighbouring villages had begun organising efforts to recover and bury the victims, he added.
“The village and its people disappeared,” he said. “It’s an unprecedented tragedy.”
The landslide is one of the deadliest natural disasters in Sudan in recent history. The country experiences widespread flooding and loss of life each year during the July to October rainy season.
The catastrophe comes as Sudan’s civil war, now in its third year, continues to fuel one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Famine has already been declared in parts of Darfur, where fighting between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has escalated.
The Marra mountains have become a refuge for families displaced by the violence, particularly from El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur. Although the SLM has largely stayed out of the conflict, it controls parts of the mountain range.
Darfur’s governor, Minni Minnawi, who is aligned with the army, described the landslide as a “humanitarian tragedy that goes beyond the borders of the region”. He appealed to international organisations to provide urgent assistance.
However, much of Darfur, including the area hit by the landslide, remains inaccessible to aid agencies because of the ongoing conflict, hampering relief efforts.
The civil war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions, including around four million from the capital, Khartoum. In El Fasher, civilians report the fiercest RSF assault yet on the city.
The conflict has been marked by atrocities including ethnically motivated killings and sexual violence, according to the United Nations and human rights groups. The International Criminal Court has confirmed it is investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
