A landslide triggered by days of heavy rain has destroyed a remote village in Sudan’s Darfur region, killing more than 1,000 people and leaving just one known survivor, local authorities and rebel officials said on Monday.
The disaster struck on Sunday in Tarasin, a settlement in the Marrah Mountains of Central Darfur. Witnesses and representatives of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, which controls the area, said the village was leveled within minutes as unstable slopes gave way. The group reported that almost every resident was buried under mud and rock.
Access to the site has been nearly impossible. The Marrah Mountains are reachable only by foot or donkey, and ongoing conflict between the Sudanese Army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces has left the region cut off from most aid. Relief groups say they cannot move in without assurances of safe passage from both warring parties.
“This is a humanitarian tragedy that goes beyond borders,” said Minni Minnawi, Darfur’s governor, urging the United Nations and international organizations to intervene. “We are facing devastation on top of devastation.”
Humanitarian groups have described the Marrah Mountains as a “black hole” in Sudan’s response system, where aid rarely reaches. Médecins Sans Frontières and other agencies have called for immediate international support, warning that survivors in surrounding communities could face food shortages and disease outbreaks if assistance is delayed.
The landslide is among the deadliest natural disasters in Sudan in decades. It comes as the country remains mired in a civil war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions since fighting erupted in April 2023. The war has devastated infrastructure, crippled relief networks and left large parts of Darfur outside government reach.
For many families, the Marrah Mountains had been a last refuge from the violence that has swept across Darfur for years. Now, that sanctuary has itself been shattered. “They went to the mountains to survive the war,” one aid worker said, “but nature gave them no escape.”
International agencies, including the United Nations, have yet to confirm the casualty figures, but satellite images reviewed by regional monitors show large sections of hillside collapsed across the village. With communications limited and access blocked by conflict, independent verification has been difficult.
The disaster underscores the compounding crises Sudan faces: civil war, humanitarian collapse and now environmental catastrophe. As appeals for help grow louder, the chances of a rapid international response remain uncertain.
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