Villagers in a remote area of Sudan's western Darfur region are trying to reach buried victims by hand after a devastating landslide on Sunday, aid group Save the Children reports.
People are excavating by hand to rescue the bodies of their relatives since there are no tools or machinery, said Francesco Lanino, Save the Children's deputy Sudan director for programmes and operations.
The number of casualties remains uncertain. Reports claim as many as 1,000 lives may have been lost, contrasting sharply with official data stating that only two bodies have been recovered. Save the Children estimates at least 373 bodies have been found, according to local authorities.
Lanino expressed that 1,000 lives may have been lost, including an estimated 200 children. Staff members described the scene as one of “destruction and devastation.” This landslide, attributed to heavy rains, could be the most tragic and extensive disaster in the region's history.
Within the Tarseen area, consisting of five villages, just one survivor is reported from the hardest-hit locality.
Verifying the extent of the disaster has proven difficult due to the region's remoteness. Nevertheless, satellite imagery has confirmed the loss of nine buildings and structures during the landslide.
It took Save the Children’s aid workers over six hours to navigate nearly 14 miles (22km) of challenging terrain to provide humanitarian assistance to survivors. Teams utilized donkeys to transport supplies to the affected area.
The ongoing civil conflict in Sudan has complicated rescue operations, as highlighted by an additional aid organization, World Vision. Apart from the landslide, Sudan grapples with a humanitarian crisis due to hostilities between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army, with death toll estimates reaching up to 150,000 since the conflict began in 2023, displacing 12 million people.
