On August 31, 2025, a massive landslide devastated the remote village of Tarasin (also spelled Tarsin / Tarseen) in the Jebel Marra mountains of Central Darfur, Sudan. Local authorities from the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) initially claimed over 1,000 fatalities, with only a single survivor.

Yet, independent confirmation remains difficult, hampered by conflict, terrain, and limited access. The United Nations and aid agencies now estimate between 300 and 1,000 deaths, noting 375 confirmed as of early September, while hundreds more may still be trapped under debris.

As of now, approximately 270 bodies have been recovered and buried, according to SLM/A’s civilian authority.

What triggered the landslide?

Weather & Geology

Days of torrential rainfall saturated slopes on the volcanic massif, triggering slope failure. The Jebel Marra massif rises above 3,000 meters and generally receives more precipitation than the surrounding Sahel, making its steep flanks particularly vulnerable to landslide onsets.

Witnesses and assessments suggest a two-wave collapse: an initial slide followed by a secondary one that buried those attempting rescue.

Human & Conflict Factors
• Displaced populations, fleeing conflict elsewhere, had relocated to highland slopes lacking infrastructure or protection.
• Access is severely constrained by destroyed roads, active fighting zones, and communication outages. Relief and assessment teams must often traverse on foot or by donkey, compounding delays.

Why Darfur is so hard to reach

Sudan’s nationwide war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) erupted in April 2023 and has driven one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Roughly 25 million people need assistance; about 13 million have been displaced, including 8.6 million within the country. Darfur—already scarred by past atrocities—has again seen mass displacement, hunger and blocked aid.

Humanitarian agencies warn of acute hunger and famine-risk pockets across Sudan; the World Food Programme estimates 24.6 million people face acute food insecurity, with around 2 million in or near famine conditions—factors that further weaken communities’ resilience to disasters like landslides.

What we know so far

Estimates vary: Local SLM/A claims >1,000 dead; UN / NGO estimates range 300–1,000, with 375 confirmed.
Recovered remains: ~270 bodies recovered and interred.
Trapped victims: Hundreds more may still be under debris.
Secondary disasters: Surrounding villages risk further landslides, flooding, disease outbreaks owing to contamination and lack of services.

The human impact

With homes, granaries, and water points obliterated, survivors in surrounding hamlets face immediate needs—shelter, clean water, food, and trauma care—even as rains persist. Health risks now include waterborne disease (from contaminated runoff) and injuries from debris. Access for heavy equipment is nearly impossible; manual recovery and community burials are likely to continue for days.

The disaster strikes as Darfur contends with severe hunger, repeated aid convoys being blocked or attacked, and a collapsing health system, compounding the probability that secondary mortality (from exposure, infection, or lack of care) follows the initial landslide deaths.

Why this disaster was foreseeable

Analysts have long warned that the Sahel’s changing rainfall patterns, more intense downpours separated by longer dry spells, raise landslide and flood risks in mountainous pockets like Jebel Marra. The massif’s volcanic geology, steep relief, and weathered ash-rich soils can fail catastrophically when saturated, especially where vegetation has been disturbed by displacement or conflict.

What to expect next

Revised casualty figures. Expect the official death toll to change as teams reach the site on foot and communications stabilize. Early numbers in remote disasters often shift.
Access negotiations. Relief requires localized ceasefire arrangements and humanitarian corridors. Without security guarantees, only limited community-led response is feasible.
Disease prevention push. Agencies will prioritize safe water, sanitation, and emergency health kits, aiming to avert cholera and other outbreaks in the rainy season.
Protection and shelter. With homes erased, survivors need tarps, blankets, and NFIs; conflict-sensitive site planning is crucial to avoid putting people back beneath unstable slopes.
Hazard mapping. Expect calls for rapid landslide hazard assessments and community early-warning in nearby villages along Jebel Marra’s valleys before further storms. (Inference based on standard post-slide practice.)

Accountability and prevention

Beyond immediate relief, the larger crisis is man-made: fighting has trapped civilians in dangerous terrain and crippled aid access. Any durable prevention strategy must include:

Humanitarian access agreements that hold, monitored by neutral actors.
Demilitarized aid corridors into Central and West Darfur.
Community-based risk reduction (reforestation, slope drainage, relocation of the most exposed households) once security allows. (Standard DRR measures.)

The wider emergency in numbers

25M people in need of aid nationwide.
~13M displaced (8.6M inside Sudan).
24.6M facing acute hunger; ~2M in famine or at risk.

These figures underscore why a landslide becomes a mass-casualty event in Sudan today: vulnerability is already extreme.

How you can help right now

Sudan’s civilians need more than sympathy, they need organized, global pressure for safe access and lifesaving aid. Add your voice to concrete, pro-peace, pro-humanitarian solutions!

Vote on actionable solutions at: https://www.pledge4peace.org/campaigns/end-sudan-crisis-now

Your vote helps surface and amplify policies that demand humanitarian corridors, ceasefire compliance, protection of civilians, and scaled food and health assistance. The more people who participate, the louder the call for access and accountability becomes.

Hero image: Sudan Liberation Movement/Army / AFP via Getty Images