A Disaster in the Worst Place: Landslide in Sudan Kills Hundreds

By Madelyn Williams

On August 21, 2025, after days of heavy rainfall, a landslide in the Marra Mountains leveled the Sudanese village of Tarseen.  The village is located in a gully in the Darfur region in western Sudan. The UN has sent aid and rescue crews. They report that at least 370 people have been killed, but it will be almost impossible for there to be an accurate count of who was in the region. The Sudan Liberation Movement/ Army (SLM/A), who controls the region, claim that as many as 1,000 casualties. Early reports say that the village was mostly empty, but the SLM/A indicates that people have moved to the area due to the civil war. They claim that the Rapid Support Forces have pushed people from their homes and into the mountains. The area is a double-edged sword, though it is safer due to the protection from the mountains, its remote location and lack of transportation infrastructure make it difficult for rescue crews to operate. Aid workers have had to transport supplies on donkeys or by foot.

Natural disasters during the rainy season are not uncommon. Hundreds die every year from heavy rainfall causing massive landslides in Sudan. Last year the rainfall caused a dam to break killing 30. This most recent event is however the largest landslide in decades. This is just the most recent disaster in Sudan’s amalgamation of travesties. The Darfur region has been undergoing a famine on top of being torn apart by civil war. The Sudanese government has requested more aid to be sent to help them alleviate their humanitarian crisis.