Villagers are digging by hand to rescue victims of Sudan landslide -Save the Children
The landslide, caused by torrential rains on Sunday, August 31, 2025, cut off road access, delaying the arrival of emergency workers. It was only on Thursday that the first aid teams, travelling on donkeys, managed to reach the site with emergency supplies.
Save the Children has reported that villagers in Tarsin, a remote village in Sudan’s Marrah Mountains, are digging by hand to rescue people buried in a landslide that struck six days ago, leaving hundreds feared dead and destroying homes, livestock, and agricultural lands.
The landslide, caused by torrential rains on Sunday, August 31, 2025, cut off road access, delaying the arrival of emergency workers. It was only on Thursday that the first aid teams, travelling on donkeys, managed to reach the site with emergency supplies.
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Francesco Lanino, Deputy Country Director of Programmes and Operations for Save the Children in Sudan, is coordinating the operation and is in direct contact with the team in Tarsin.
He said teams on the ground are reporting that the landslide is one of the most tragic and large-scale disasters in the region’s history. So far, at least 373 bodies have been recovered, and 1,000 lives may have been lost, including an estimated 200 children, with search and rescue operations still underway.
"People are excavating by hand to rescue the bodies of their relatives since there are no tools or machinery available. The Tarsin area is made up of five villages, and in the village most severely affected by the landslide, there is only one known survivor. Across all five villages, there are 150 survivors, including 40 children who are receiving medical and protection support from Save the Children," said Lanino.
Heavy rainfall continuing for over 36 hours, two further landslides, and lightning-sparked fires across the surrounding mountains have further hampered rescue efforts.
Save the Children staff, who took over six hours to cover 22 kilometres of rocky, muddy terrain from their office in Golo to reach the village, have set up a mobile health clinic and are distributing medication to families while assessing the number of people killed, injured, and displaced.
The team reported scenes of destruction and an urgent need for shelter, food, medicines, and other equipment, noting that children are always the most impacted in any disaster.
The landslide also destroyed around 5,000 livestock and vast areas of farmland, critical for food and livelihoods. Many survivors have fled to nearby villages because there is nothing left of their homes, and they fear further ground movements.
Save the Children called on the international community to step in and help families in their time of grave need in Sudan.
“Our teams are providing the basics, but there is a desperate need for more of everything. We call on the international community to step up and help families in their time of grave need in Sudan."
The disaster comes as Sudan enters its third year of civil war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), creating one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
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