Aid workers on donkeys have delivered the first humanitarian supplies to survivors of a landslide that reportedly killed hundreds of people in a remote mountain village in Sudan's western Darfur region.
Heavy rains and flash floods that hit Tarasin village triggering the disaster on Sunday have continued, meaning donkeys are the only way to reach the affected families.
Families in Tarsin have lost everything. It took our team more than a full day on a rocky, muddy, and hilly route to reach this devastated community, said Francesco Lanino, from aid agency Save the Children.
It remains unclear how many people died. The armed group in charge of the area put the number at 1,000, however the health ministry says only two bodies have been recovered.
On Thursday, local civilian leaders said they had recovered and buried the bodies of hundreds of people.
We recovered 370 bodies and buried them. Others are still trapped under the rocks and some were carried away by floodwaters, said Ibrahim Suleiman, one of the local leaders in Daramo locality.
The footage shared by the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) showed residents and rescuers gathered at a makeshift burial site, praying for the victims laid to rest.
Mujib al-Rahman al-Zubair, another local leader, stated that rescuers had found 375 bodies, while more remain trapped underground.
The SLM/A has remained neutral in the civil war which has been ravaging Sudan for more than two years, and many people have escaped to the Marra Mountains area where the landslide occurred.
Antoine Gérard, the UN's deputy humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, mentioned that while he earlier gave the figure of 370 deaths, it's challenging to assess the disaster's scale as the area is hard to reach.
On Thursday, an emergency team riding donkeys took over six hours to deliver medical supplies, food, water, and tarpaulins to affected communities. Up to 1,000 people have been impacted, with mobile health clinics deployed to provide immediate care.
Tarsin is one of the most isolated villages in one of the most remote parts of Sudan. Heavy rains and flash floods have made the response extremely challenging, said Mr. Lanino.
The SLM/A emphasized the urgent international intervention needed to alleviate the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Tarasin. The ongoing conflict in Sudan has severely hampered rescue efforts, and there are fears of disease outbreaks due to the heightened risks in affected areas.
With around 30 million people needing assistance in Sudan, the landslide has worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis, compounding the challenges faced by aid organizations.
