In the rugged, rain-soaked heights of Sudan’s Jebel Marra Mountains, tragedy struck with a force few could have imagined. On August 31, 2025, after days of relentless downpour, a massive landslide thundered down upon the remote village of Tarasin—sometimes called Tarseen—obliterating homes, farmland, and nearly every trace of the once-vibrant citrus-producing community. The United Nations now estimates that between 300 and 1,000 people may have lost their lives in this disaster, marking one of the deadliest natural catastrophes to hit Sudan in recent memory, according to reporting from OkayAfrica and the Associated Press.
The scale of the devastation is hard to fathom. As of September 3, approximately 270 bodies had been recovered from beneath the thick, suffocating mud, as reported by the Abdulwahid al-Nur faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM). Local residents and SLM members have been leading the rescue efforts, digging with their bare hands through the debris—without proper equipment or outside help. “The scale of the disaster is larger than I had imagined,” said Mogeeb al-Rahman Mohamed al-Zubeir, the civilian authority head in SLM-controlled territory, via satellite phone to AFP. He added, “Hundreds remain trapped under the rubble that swallowed homes and farmland.”
Heartbreakingly, only a single survivor has been confirmed so far among what was once a bustling village of over 1,000 inhabitants. The United Nations’ migration agency estimates that around 150 people from Tarasin and adjacent villages have been displaced, forced to flee what little remains of their homes. According to OkayAfrica, dead livestock lie buried in the mud, and local water resources have been contaminated, compounding the misery for survivors and complicating future recovery efforts.
Accessing Tarasin has proven nearly impossible for humanitarian groups. Heavy rains have rendered roads impassable, and the area’s treacherous volcanic terrain—rising more than 3,000 meters (9,840 feet) at its summit—makes even basic rescue operations a daunting challenge. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) described the area as “extremely hard to reach,” and the few NGOs operating in Darfur have struggled to mobilize a response. “The whole humanitarian community is feeling helpless at the moment,” said Arjimand Hussain, Regional Response Manager with Plan International, in comments to the Associated Press.
For those on the ground, the lack of outside support has been palpable. “No humanitarian organisation has arrived yet,” al-Zubeir told AFP, emphasizing that the entire rescue mission has fallen to local residents and SLM members, both working with extremely limited resources. Footage shared by the SLM showed villagers wading through knee-deep mud, using only their hands to excavate bodies and search for any signs of life.
The tragedy comes at a time when Sudan is already reeling from multiple, overlapping crises. Since April 2023, the country has been engulfed in a brutal civil war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The conflict has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 14 million people, making it the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, according to the Associated Press. The Jebel Marra region, controlled by the neutral Sudan Liberation Movement, has become a refuge for thousands fleeing the violence elsewhere. Now, even this supposed sanctuary has been shattered.
“Sunday’s tragedy was the latest to slam Sudan amid its devastating civil war,” wrote Samy Magdy for the Associated Press. The war has brought with it not only violence but also famine and disease outbreaks, including a cholera epidemic that has killed hundreds this year. The International Criminal Court is currently investigating reports of mass killings and rape as possible war crimes and crimes against humanity. Against this backdrop, the landslide feels like a cruel twist of fate—nature’s devastation layered atop human-made catastrophe.
Adding to the sense of urgency, Sudan’s General Authority for Geological Research has warned that the Jebel Marra region is one of the most geologically active in the country, sitting atop a major tectonic belt. The authority cautioned that recurring landslides could have “catastrophic” humanitarian and environmental consequences, especially as climate change accelerates extreme weather events in the region.
The international community has begun to take notice, though tangible help remains slow to arrive. During his weekly address on September 3, Pope Leo XIV spoke movingly of the “pain and despair” left in the landslide’s wake. He called for “a coordinated response to stop this humanitarian catastrophe,” urging both immediate aid and a “serious, sincere, and inclusive dialogue between the parties to end the conflict and restore hope, dignity, and peace to the people of Sudan.” His words echoed the pleas of local officials and aid agencies, who have repeatedly urged international organizations to provide immediate support to communities left reeling by the disaster.
The Marrah Mountains, recognized as a world heritage site by UNICEF, are known for their unique climate—lower temperatures and higher rainfall than the surrounding desert. This combination, while sustaining local agriculture, also makes the area particularly vulnerable to landslides during the rainy season, which peaks in August. A smaller landslide in 2018 killed at least 19 people, a grim reminder that such disasters are not unprecedented, though never before on this scale.
For the survivors, the future remains uncertain. With homes destroyed, farmland buried, and water sources contaminated, the basic necessities of life are suddenly out of reach. The lack of infrastructure and poor roads mean that even the most basic supplies—food, clean water, medical assistance—are days or weeks away. Aid groups like Plan International and UN agencies are planning to send teams to Tarasin, but deployment is hampered by the very conditions that caused the disaster in the first place.
In the meantime, the people of Tarasin and the surrounding villages are left to fend for themselves, mourning their dead and searching for the missing amid a landscape transformed by mud and grief. Their resilience in the face of unimaginable hardship is a testament to the human spirit, yet their plight is a stark reminder of the urgent need for global solidarity and action.
As Sudan grapples with war, famine, and now natural disaster, the world’s attention—and its help—cannot come soon enough for the survivors in the mountains of Darfur.