Photo credit: France 24
A “massive” landslide in Sudan’s western Darfur region has flattened an entire mountain village and killed over 1,000 people, according to a rebel group that controls the area.
France 24 reports that the group says there was only one survivor.
The disaster occurred on Sunday, following days of heavy rain that devastated the village of Tarasin in the Marra Mountains, the Sudan Liberation Movement Army said.
The “massive and devastating landslide destroyed part of a region known for citrus production, according to the statement.
The group has appealed to the United Nations and other aid organisations for help in recovering the dead still buried under dirt and debris.
Sudan is embroiled in a bloody civil war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has plunged the country into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
The SLM has mostly stayed out of the fighting, but controls part of Sudan’s tallest mountain range.
Sudan’s army-aligned governor, Minni Minawi, called the landslide a “humanitarian tragedy that goes beyond the borders of the region”.
Much of Darfur, including the area where the landslide occurred, remains largely inaccessible to international aid organisations due to ongoing fighting, severely limiting the delivery of urgent humanitarian assistance.
