KHARTOUM, Sudan — Villagers in a remote area of Sudan’s western Darfur region are digging through the earth with their hands to reach buried victims following a devastating landslide, according to the aid group Save the Children.
“People are excavating by hand to rescue the bodies of their relatives since there are no tools or machinery,” said Francesco Lanino, the group’s deputy director for programmes and operations in Sudan.
The true death toll remains unclear. While the national health ministry has reported only two bodies recovered, an armed group controlling the area has put the number as high as 1,000. Save the Children, citing the head of the Civil Authority, stated that at least 373 bodies have been recovered, with Mr Lanino adding that “1,000 lives may have been lost, including an estimated 200 children.”
Save the Children staff who reached the area described scenes of “destruction and devastation” caused by heavy rainfall. Mr Lanino believes it to be “one of the most tragic and large-scale disasters in the region’s history.” In the impacted Tarseen area, which consists of five villages, there is only one known survivor in the worst-hit village.
Independent verification of the landslide’s impact has been difficult due to the remoteness of the area. However, an analysis of satellite imagery by BBC Verify was able to identify nine buildings and structures that were swept away.
Aid workers for Save the Children had to travel on donkeys to reach Tarseen, a journey of nearly 14 miles (22km) over rocky, muddy terrain that took over six hours. The ongoing civil war in Sudan has further complicated rescue efforts, according to another aid group, World Vision. The civil war has seen fighting between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army, displacing some 12 million people and killing up to 150,000 since hostilities began in 2023.
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