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People gather at the site of a landslide on Sunday that wiped out the village of Tarasin in the Marrah Mountains of Central Darfur, Sudan, on September 1, 2025 [Photo: AP]
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Sudan has appealed for urgent international aid after a landslide wiped out an entire village in the western Darfur region, killing more than 1,000 people in one of the deadliest natural disasters in the country’s recent history. The tragedy struck on Sunday in Tarasin, a remote village in Central Darfur’s Marrah Mountains, following days of heavy rainfall. The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), which controls the area, said the village was “completely levelled to the ground” and that “only one person survived.”
“Initial information indicates the death of all village residents, estimated at more than 1,000 people,” the group said in a statement as it appealed to the United Nations and aid agencies for help in recovering bodies.
The ruling Sovereign Council in Khartoum said it mourned “the death of hundreds of innocent residents” and pledged to mobilize “all possible capabilities” to support the affected area. UN humanitarian coordinator Luca Renda said he was “deeply saddened” by the reports and confirmed that the UN and partners were working to deliver assistance.
However, access remains a major challenge. The local emergency network said its teams recovered only nine bodies by Tuesday, citing poor weather and a lack of resources. Mohamed Abdel-Rahman al-Nair, an SLM/A spokesman, told the Associated Press that Tarasin is so remote it can only be reached on foot or by donkey.
The Marrah Mountains, a World Heritage Site rising over 3,000 metres (9,840 feet), are known for their cooler climate and higher rainfall than surrounding areas. But the region, located more than 900 kilometres (560 miles) west of Khartoum, has become largely inaccessible to aid groups during Sudan’s war. Doctors Without Borders has described it as a “black hole” in the humanitarian response.
Landslides and floods are common during Sudan’s rainy season, which runs from July to October. Last year, heavy rains caused the collapse of a dam in Red Sea State, killing at least 30 people. But Sunday’s disaster ranks among the deadliest in the country’s modern history.
The catastrophe comes as Sudan’s civil war, now in its third year, deepens one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Famine has already been declared in parts of Darfur, where fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has displaced thousands.
The RSF has kept El-Fasher, the last major army-held city in Darfur, under siege for more than a year, while attempting to consolidate control in western Sudan after losing ground in the capital earlier this year. The International Organization for Migration on Tuesday called for safe access and urgent scaling up of support to reach those affected in Darfur.
Torch Media Africa
