KHARTOUM, Sudan (02/9/2025): A horrific natural disaster has struck the war-torn western region of Darfur in Sudan, where a massive landslide has completely obliterated a village, burying nearly all of its residents. Initial reports indicate a catastrophic loss of life, with an estimated 1,000 people killed and tragically, only a single known survivor.
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| A displacement site in Tawila in North Darfur, Sudan. The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army has said that more than 1,000 people were killed in a landslide in the region. Photograph: Reuters |
The disaster occurred on Sunday, August 31, in the village of Tarasin, located in the rugged and remote Marra Mountains of Central Darfur. The landslide was triggered by days of torrential and unseasonably heavy rainfall, which saturated the mountainous terrain and led to the catastrophic collapse of earth and rock.
The news emerged from a statement released late Monday by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM), a rebel group led by Abdelwahid Mohamed Nour that controls the affected area. According to their statement, the village of Tarasin was "completely leveled to the ground."
"Initial information indicates the death of all village residents, estimated to be more than one thousand individuals, with only one survivor," the SLM statement read.
Rescue Efforts Severely Hampered by War and Accessibility
The scale of the tragedy is immense, and the prospects for a swift and effective rescue operation are grim. Emergency and rescue efforts are facing almost insurmountable challenges, compounding the disaster.
Ongoing Civil War: Sudan is now in its third year of a brutal civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The Darfur region, and specifically the area around the Marra Mountains, has been an epicenter of intense fighting. This conflict makes the region exceptionally dangerous and largely inaccessible to outside help.
Remote and Difficult Terrain: The Marra Mountains are a rugged volcanic chain, and the village of Tarasin is located in a remote area with limited infrastructure. The very nature of the terrain, now made worse by the landslide and flooding, makes it incredibly difficult for rescue teams and heavy machinery to reach the site.
Lack of Resources: The area is controlled by a rebel group with limited resources to conduct a large-scale search and recovery operation for over a thousand victims.
The SLM has made an urgent appeal to the United Nations and international aid agencies for immediate assistance. "We appeal to international humanitarian organisations to urgently intervene and provide support and assistance at this critical moment, for the tragedy is greater than what our people can bear alone," said Minni Minnawi, the army-aligned governor of Darfur.
A Tragedy Compounded by Humanitarian Crisis
The landslide strikes a region already on its knees from one of the world's worst humanitarian crises. The ongoing war has displaced millions of people, and many families fleeing the violence in North Darfur had sought refuge in the relative safety of the Marra Mountains. These displaced populations were already living in dire conditions, with severe shortages of food, water, and medicine.
Famine has already been declared in parts of Darfur, and this natural disaster will only exacerbate the suffering of a population that has already endured so much. The international community now faces the immense challenge of finding a way to deliver aid to a disaster zone located within an active and perilous conflict zone.
