More than 1,000 people were killed when a landslide engulfed the village of Tarasin in Sudan’s Darfur region, according to local authorities. Triggered by days of torrential rain on August 31, the disaster buried the entire settlement in the Marrah Mountains, leaving only one survivor. The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, which controls the area, called for urgent international aid, but ongoing fighting has cut off access and slowed any chance of rescue.

A Village Wiped Off The Map

Tarasin was home to families displaced by the war who had taken refuge in the remote mountains. Witnesses said the village was “completely levelled,” with entire households buried beneath mud and rock. Days after the disaster, bodies remain unrecovered due to a lack of equipment and the difficulties of reaching the site. Aid officials fear the toll could climb further as conditions worsen.

Appeals For International Assistance

The SLM urged the United Nations and humanitarian organisations to intervene, stressing that the tragedy is beyond the capacity of local communities. Darfur’s governor Minni Minnawi described it as a “humanitarian tragedy that goes beyond the borders of the region.” Humanitarian agencies warn that delivering aid will be nearly impossible without safe corridors, as many roads remain blocked and the surrounding areas are contested by armed groups.

Inaccessible Disaster Zone

Relief operations have been paralysed as the Marrah Mountains are isolated by conflict. Fighting between the Sudanese army and the RSF has left key towns under siege, while supply routes into Darfur are cut or unsafe. Aid convoys attempting to reach displaced communities have been repeatedly halted, leaving survivors of the landslide without food, medicine, or shelter. Officials say the disaster struck in one of the hardest-to-reach corners of Sudan’s conflict.

Humanitarian Crisis Intensifies

The landslide compounds an already catastrophic emergency. Sudan’s civil war has displaced more than 13 million people, with famine declared in parts of Darfur. Aid workers report that both conflict and bureaucratic restrictions have obstructed food and medical deliveries. Analysts note that natural disasters in Sudan now unfold against a backdrop of systemic collapse, where even a single village tragedy reverberates across an entire region already at breaking point.