At least 370 people, including women and children, have been reported dead and dozens declared missing after a devastating landslide wiped out an entire village in Sudan’s western Darfur region.
The incident, which occurred following days of heavy rainfall, destroyed the village of Tarseen, leaving only one known survivor.
The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), the armed group in control of the area, said the landslide had “levelled” most of the village and warned that the actual death toll could be as high as 1,000.
Efforts to assess the full extent of the disaster have been severely hampered by the region’s inaccessibility.
The UN’s Deputy Humanitarian Co-ordinator for Sudan, Antoine Gérard, said it was difficult to confirm the scale of the tragedy due to logistical challenges.
“We do not have helicopters. Everything goes in vehicles on very bumpy roads. It takes time, and it is the rainy season, sometimes we have to wait hours, maybe a day or two, to cross a valley. Bringing in trucks with commodities will be a challenge,” Gérard explained.
The SLM/A has appealed for urgent humanitarian assistance from the United Nations and other regional and international bodies.
However, with the area difficult to reach and conflict still ongoing, aid delivery remains uncertain.
This tragedy comes as thousands of people in the region continue to grapple with displacement caused by the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Many civilians had sought shelter in the Marra Mountains region, where the landslide occurred, after being forced from their homes.
Darfur’s army-aligned governor, Minni Minnawi, described the incident as a “humanitarian tragedy” and issued a plea for international aid.
“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,” he said on Tuesday.
In a related appeal, the head of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, urged the warring factions to lay down their arms to allow humanitarian aid to reach those in dire need.
He called on both sides “to silence the guns and unite in facilitating the swift and effective delivery of emergency humanitarian assistance.”
