Sunday, 07 September, 2025
Sudanese rescuers have recovered 270 bodies after a landslide buried an entire mountain village in the Darfur region, a civilian leader under the rebel group controlling the area said Wednesday.
The landslip, triggered by heavy rains, devastated the village of Tarasin in the Jebel Marra range, according to the Abdulwahid al-Nur faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM).
The United Nations, citing local sources, estimated that between 300 and 1,000 people may have been killed, though the full scale of the disaster remains uncertain due to the region’s inaccessibility.
“So far, around 270 bodies have been recovered and buried,” said Mogeeb al-Rahman Mohamed al-Zubeir, head of the civilian authority in SLM-controlled territory. “Hundreds remain trapped under the rubble that swallowed homes and farmland,” he told AFP via satellite phone.
Zubeir said livestock lay dead beneath the mud, water sources had been contaminated, and no humanitarian agencies had yet reached the area. “The entire rescue effort is being carried out by local residents and SLM members with extremely limited resources,” he added. “The scale of the disaster is larger than I had imagined.”
Footage shared by the SLM showed villagers wading through mud, digging with their bare hands to recover bodies. Initial estimates suggested nearly all of Tarasin’s 1,000 residents were killed, with only one survivor reported.
The UN migration agency said about 150 people from Tarasin and nearby villages have been displaced.
On Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV called for a “coordinated response” to the unfolding “humanitarian catastrophe,” describing the aftermath as marked by “pain and despair.”
The landslide comes amid Sudan’s ongoing war between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions since April 2023. Thousands of the displaced have fled to SLM-held areas.
Located southwest of El-Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur, the Jebel Marra range is rugged volcanic terrain that becomes nearly impassable during the August rainy season.
Sudan’s General Authority for Geological Research described the region as one of the country’s most geologically active, sitting on a major tectonic belt. It warned that recurring landslides could bring “catastrophic” humanitarian and environmental consequences.
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Sudanese rescuers have recovered 270 bodies after a landslide buried an entire mountain village in the Darfur region, a civilian leader under the rebel group controlling the area said Wednesday.
The landslip, triggered by heavy rains, devastated the village of Tarasin in the Jebel Marra range, according to the Abdulwahid al-Nur faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM).
The United Nations, citing local sources, estimated that between 300 and 1,000 people may have been killed, though the full scale of the disaster remains uncertain due to the region’s inaccessibility.
“So far, around 270 bodies have been recovered and buried,” said Mogeeb al-Rahman Mohamed al-Zubeir, head of the civilian authority in SLM-controlled territory. “Hundreds remain trapped under the rubble that swallowed homes and farmland,” he told AFP via satellite phone.
Zubeir said livestock lay dead beneath the mud, water sources had been contaminated, and no humanitarian agencies had yet reached the area. “The entire rescue effort is being carried out by local residents and SLM members with extremely limited resources,” he added. “The scale of the disaster is larger than I had imagined.”
Footage shared by the SLM showed villagers wading through mud, digging with their bare hands to recover bodies. Initial estimates suggested nearly all of Tarasin’s 1,000 residents were killed, with only one survivor reported.
The UN migration agency said about 150 people from Tarasin and nearby villages have been displaced.
On Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV called for a “coordinated response” to the unfolding “humanitarian catastrophe,” describing the aftermath as marked by “pain and despair.”
The landslide comes amid Sudan’s ongoing war between the army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions since April 2023. Thousands of the displaced have fled to SLM-held areas.
Located southwest of El-Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur, the Jebel Marra range is rugged volcanic terrain that becomes nearly impassable during the August rainy season.
Sudan’s General Authority for Geological Research described the region as one of the country’s most geologically active, sitting on a major tectonic belt. It warned that recurring landslides could bring “catastrophic” humanitarian and environmental consequences.
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