A massive landslide has hit Sudan’s western Darfur region, flattening an entire mountain village and killing more than 1,000 people, according to a statement released late Monday by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM). This rebel group controls the area. The disaster occurred on Sunday in the village of Tarasin, situated in the Marra Mountains, following several days of heavy rainfall.

The SLM said the landslide was so powerful that it “destroyed” the village, leaving only one survivor. “Initial information indicates the death of all village residents, estimated to be more than one thousand individuals, with only one survivor,” the group said. The affected region, once known for its citrus production, has now been buried under dirt and debris.

In their statement, the SLM appealed to the United Nations and other international aid organisations to urgently intervene and assist in recovering bodies that remain trapped beneath the rubble. However, humanitarian access to much of Darfur remains limited due to the ongoing conflict.

Darfur’s governor, Minni Minnawi, who is aligned with the Sudanese army, described the disaster as a “humanitarian tragedy that goes beyond the borders of the region.” He urged international aid agencies to act swiftly, saying the scale of the disaster was far greater than what the local population could handle on its own.

The landslide comes at a time when Sudan is already suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Since April 2023, the country has been gripped by a brutal civil war between the Sudanese army, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by Mohamed Hamdan Daglo. The war has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions of people, with the United Nations warning of severe hunger and describing it as the world’s largest displacement crisis.

Currently, around 10 million people remain displaced within Sudan, while another four million have fled to neighbouring countries. The ongoing fighting, particularly in Darfur, has made it almost impossible for international agencies to deliver aid, worsening the suffering of civilians caught between war and natural disasters.