Community rescue teams have recovered more than 370 bodies after a massive landslide tore through the village of Tarsin in western Sudan, with local sources warning the death toll could surpass 1,000 as many victims remain buried under rock or were swept away by floodwaters.
Ibrahim Hasbullah, an official with the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), said volunteers “managed to retrieve over 370 bodies,” but many others are still unreachable beneath collapsed slopes or downstream in the wadis, according to a video he shared on social media.
The SLM described Tarsin as a settlement “set deep in a gorge in central Jebel Marra, on fragile volcanic soils that give way once saturated after heavy rains,” a terrain profile that turned days of downpours into a cascading wall of earth and stone.
Reuters reported that SLM appealed for international help, and the Nyala-based TASIS government has already sent relief and pledged to facilitate further deliveries.
Local responders say priority needs are heavy machinery to clear debris, safe humanitarian access, shelter, clean water and medical support.