At least 1,000 dead after the Darfur field lag in Sudan wiped the village

A landslide has wiped out a village in the western region of Sudan, Darfur, killing around 1,000 people in one of the deadliest natural disasters in recent history in the African country, a rebel group controlling the region said late Monday.

The tragedy occurred Sunday in the village of Tarasin in the center of the Marrah du Darfour mountains after days of strong precipitation, said the Sudan liberation movement in a statement.

“The initial information indicates the death of all residents of the village, estimated at more than 1,000 people. Only one person has survived,” the statement said.

The village was “completely leveled on the ground,” said the group, appealing to the United Nations and international aid groups to get aid to recover the bodies.

The sovereign council leader of Khartoum cried “the death of hundreds of innocent residents” in the landslide of the Marrah mountains. In a statement, he said that “all possible capacities” were mobilized to support the area.

Images shared by Marrah Mountains’ press briefing have shown an flattened area between mountain ranges with a group of people searching the area.

Aid groups were forced to get out of violence

The tragedy came because a devastating civil war swallowed Sudan after the tensions between the country’s army and the paramilitary forces of rapid support (RSF) exploded in combat open in April 2023 in the capital, Khartoum and elsewhere in the country.

Most of the Darfur region struck by conflicts has become mainly inaccessible for UN and Aid groups, given the paralyzing restrictions and fighting between Sudan and RSF soldiers.

Doctors of the Borders Without Aid Group warned that several Darfur communities, including the Marrah mountains, were cut after more than two years of war and isolation, describing these areas as “a black hole” in the humanitarian response of Sudan.

He declared in a July report that the inhabitants of these communities were “deprived of adequate assistance and snubbed by the actors of aid despite horrible durable conditions”.

The cabinet of the Sudan release movement, centered in the Marrah mountains region, is one of the multiple rebel groups active in the Darfur and Kordofan regions. He did not take sides in the war.

The mountains of Marrah are an damaged volcanic chain extending 160 kilometers southwest of El-Fasher, an epicenter of fighting between the army and the RSF. The region has become a center for displaced families fleeing the fights in and around El-Fasher.

Many forced their houses already

The conflict in Sudan killed more than 40,000 people, forced more than 14 million to flee their homes and left some families eating grass in a desperate attempt to survive while famine has swept the parts of the country.

He was marked by atrocities, including the motivated murder and rape, ethnically, according to the United Nations and the rights for the defense of rights. The International Criminal Court said it was investigating alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The village of Tarasin is located in the central mountains of Marrah, a volcanic area of ​​more than 3,000 meters at its top. World heritage site, the mountain range is known for its lower temperature and its precipitation higher than the surrounding areas, according to UNICEF. It is located more than 900 kilometers west of the capital, Khartoum.

One of the deadliest natural disasters in the recent history of Sudan. Hundreds of people die every year of seasonal rains which take place from July to October. Last year, the strong precipitation caused the collapse of a dam in the province of the eastern Red Sea, killing at least 30 people, according to the UN.