Devastating Landslide in Sudan Claims Hundreds of Lives

Tue Sep 30 2025 03:48:18 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

A recent landslide in the Marra Mountains of Sudan has resulted in at least 370 confirmed deaths, as officials warn the actual toll may be much higher due to rescue difficulties.

A landslide triggered by heavy rainfall has devastated the village of Tarseen in Sudan's Marra Mountains, killing at least 370 people, with fears that the death toll could rise to 1,000. The area is currently difficult to access, complicating rescue and relief efforts. International aid groups are being urged to provide immediate support to the impacted region, where many residents have fled conflict in North Darfur.

A landslide has killed at least 370 people in the remote Marra Mountains in western Sudan, a UN official has told the BBC.

Antoine Gérard, the UN's deputy humanitarian co-ordinator for Sudan, stated that it was hard to assess the scale of the incident or the exact death toll, as the area was very difficult to reach.

The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), the armed group in control of the affected area, suggested that the death toll could reach as high as 1,000.

Days of heavy rain triggered the landslide on Sunday, which left only one survivor and levelled much of the village of Tarseen, the group reported.

The SLM/A has appealed for urgent humanitarian assistance from the UN and other regional and international organisations.

Getting aid quickly to the area would pose significant challenges, Gérard noted, stating, We do not have helicopters; everything goes in vehicles on very bumpy roads. It takes time and it is the rainy season. We may have to wait hours, maybe a day or two to cross a valley; bringing in trucks with commodities will be a challenge.

Many residents from North Darfur state had sought refuge in the Marra Mountains region, fleeing the ongoing conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

Darfur's military-aligned governor, Minni Minnawi, characterized the landslide as a humanitarian tragedy, calling for humanitarian organisations to urgently intervene and provide support.

The head of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, urged warring parties to cease hostilities and facilitate the prompt delivery of emergency humanitarian assistance.

Pictures depict two gullies on the mountainside converging at a lower level where Tarseen village once stood.

The civil war ignited in April 2023 has led to accusations of genocide in western Darfur, displacing around 12 million people and causing severe famine.

Factions of the SLM/A have committed to fight alongside the Sudanese military against the RSF, amidst fears that the RSF and allied militias aim to establish Arab dominance over the ethnically diverse region of Darfur.