At least 1,000 people have died after a devastating landslide struck a village in Sudan’s Darfur region, according to the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A). The disaster, triggered by days of heavy rainfall, occurred on August 31 in the Marrah Mountains and left only one survivor.

The SLM/A, which controls parts of Darfur, said the village had been “completely flattened” and called on the United Nations and international aid agencies to assist in recovering the bodies of men, women, and children buried under the debris.

Many of the victims were civilians who had already fled their homes to escape Sudan’s ongoing conflict between the national army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The war, which began in April 2023, has entered its third year and continues to devastate the country.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands, displaced millions, and plunged more than half of Sudan’s population into food insecurity. The UN has described it as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

Fighting remains most intense in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state, where RSF forces are escalating their offensive against government troops.

International aid organizations warn that the combination of war, famine, and natural disasters like the Marrah Mountains landslide is pushing Sudan’s civilian population to the brink of survival.