A devastating landslide has killed more than 1,000 people in a remote village in western Sudan, according to a statement from a local armed group controlling the area. The disaster, triggered by weeks of heavy rainfall, completely destroyed the village of Tarasin in the Marra mountains, leaving a single known survivor.
The group, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, reported that the village was flattened and all its residents were lost. It has issued an urgent appeal to United Nations agencies and international humanitarian organizations for assistance in recovering the victims’ remains.
Footage from the area shows a vast, leveled expanse of earth between mountain ranges, with local community members seen searching the debris. A farmer from a nearby village described the event as an “unprecedented tragedy,” confirming that the area had been subjected to persistent, intense rains.
This landslide represents one of the most severe natural disasters in Sudan’s recent history. The country faces annual seasonal floods, but the scale of this event is exceptional.
The catastrophe strikes a region already grappling with a severe humanitarian crisis fueled by an ongoing civil war. The conflict has displaced millions of people and pushed parts of the country, including areas of Darfur, into famine. Much of the region remains inaccessible to international aid due to the fighting, severely hampering relief efforts.
A regional governor aligned with the national army described the landslide as a humanitarian tragedy that “goes beyond the borders of the region” and called for immediate international intervention, stating the disaster is greater than what the local population can manage alone.
The civil war, now in its third year, has been marked by widespread atrocities and has created one of the world’s most dire humanitarian emergencies.
