A HUGE landslide has wiped out an entire village in the Darfur region of western Sudan, killing more than 1,000 people.

It was one of the deadliest natural disasters in the African country’s recent history, a militia group controlling the area said on Monday night.

The village was “completely levelled to the ground,” the Sudan Liberation Movement-Army said as it appealed to the United Nations and international aid groups for help to recover the bodies.

The landslide hit the village of Tarasin in Central Darfur’s Marrah Mountains following days of heavy rainfall.

“Initial information indicates the death of all village residents, estimated to be more than 1,000 people,” the militia group said in a statement. ”Only one person survived.”

The ruling Sovereign Council in Khartoum said it mourned “the death of hundreds of innocent residents” in the Marrah Mountains landslide. In a statement, it said “all possible capabilities” had been mobilised to support the area.

Footage shared by the Marrah Mountains news outlet showed a flattened area between mountain ranges, with a group of people searching the area.

Al-Amin Abdallah Abbas, a farmer from Ammo, a cluster of villages that includes Tarasin, said the area had received weeks of heavy rainfall, with Tarasin among the worst hit. 

He said tribal and community leaders in nearby areas had mobilised efforts to recover and bury the victims.

“The village and its people disappeared,” he said. “It’s an unprecedented tragedy.”

The Marrah Mountains are a world heritage site, known for lower temperatures and higher rainfall than surrounding areas, according to the United Nations.

Sudan has been torn by a civil war between the country’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces since April 2023.