Sudan landslide: A collapsing mountain and bodies still buried under rubble

An aid worker supporting rescue efforts after the devastating Sudan landslide which reportedly killed hundreds of people has told the BBC that it had caused a “mountain to collapse”, leaving just one known survivor so far.

“We have so far managed to recover nine bodies,” said Abdul Hafeez Ali, head of the Coordinating Council of the Tawila and Jebel Marra Emergency Room.

Heavy rainfall led to Sunday’s disaster, which killed at least 370 people according to a UN estimate, and “destroy[ed] the village” of Tarseen in the western Darfur region, Mr Ali added.

The armed group in control of the area has said that 1,000 people died and has appealed for urgent assistance.

Another man told the BBC’s Sudan lifeline programme that many members of his family were still unaccounted for.

“So far, I’ve confirmed the deaths of two relatives: one of my uncles and his grandson. The rest of my family members are still missing,” said Ahmed Abdel Majeed, who lives in Uganda but is originally from Tarseen and keeps in touch with locals from around the affected area.

“The bodies are still buried under the rubble,” he added, stating that rescue teams were struggling to find them due to “massive blocks of stone and mud covering the area”.

An initial estimate of deaths provided by the group which controls the Marra Mountains area, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A), stated that 1,000 people could have been killed.

The UN’s deputy humanitarian co-ordinator for Sudan, Antoine Gérard, said it was difficult to ascertain the exact death toll because the area is hard to reach.

In an interview with the BBC’s Newsday radio programme SLM/A leader Abdel Wahid Mohamed al-Nur stood by his group’s estimate of the number of people killed, saying many had fled the country’s civil war to go to the relatively peaceful area.

The SLM/A has remained neutral in the conflict which has devastated much of the country over the past two years.

“People on the ground have confirmed [the death toll]. We have a civil authority there and they estimate above 1,000 people are dead or at least they are under the mud,” said Mr Nur.

He also called for emergency aid like medical supplies and food as well as urgent rescue efforts.

Speaking to the AFP news agency on Wednesday morning, an SLM/A spokesperson said 100 bodies had been recovered.

The aid worker Mr Ali said carrying out his work has been hard because of the conditions.

“Unfortunately, due to limited resources, we have not been able to carry out full-scale rescue operations. Although a support team has already arrived in Sudan, ongoing heavy rains and extremely rough terrain have made access to the affected area very difficult. Despite these challenges, the search for the missing continues.”

Mr Majeed added that communicating with those in the affected area has been challenging: “I try to stay in contact with the rescue teams, but communication is difficult. There are no working networks in the area because the solar-powered systems have gone down.”

He said that two villages had been affected by Sunday’s landslide.

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