A landslide killed up to 1,000 people in a western Sudan village on Sunday. Rescue and recovery workers spent Tuesday combing through what’s left of the village. Some of these workers are ordinary people. Others are members of rebel groups. These groups control the mountainous western Darfur region. It includes the village of Tarasin. That’s where the landslide occurred. Global aid groups are struggling to reach the site. That's because of heavy rains, blocked roads, and a civil war. The war has dragged on for two years. It has blocked much humanitarian aid from reaching Sudan. Tarasin was fully “leveled to the ground,” the Sudan Liberation Movement-Army (SLM/A) said in an urgent appeal to the United Nations (UN) and other groups for help. The SLM/A said that it appears that all but one of the villagers were killed. A UN resident coordinator estimated the death toll at between 300 and 1,000. The SLM/A is a neutral group in the current war between the Sudanese national army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The RSF is a paramilitary group. At least 40,000 people have been killed in a conflict marked by ethnic slaughter and other war crimes. The war has also triggered the evacuation of 14 million people. It has left much of the country mired in famine too. The conflict is labeled the world’s biggest current humanitarian crisis. Tarasin and other parts of the nearby Marrah Mountains have become a refuge for people fleeing the war. The village is 62 miles southwest of el-Fasher. El-Fasher is a flashpoint in the fighting between the Sudanese army and the RSF. Sudan’s heavy seasonal rains kill hundreds of people each year. Yet, the landslide is widely considered the worst natural disaster in the country’s recent history. Reflect: When people in a community face a disaster, what do you think are some important ways others can help? Photo of landslide in Sudan from Reuters.
