Sudan appeals for aid after landslide kills more than 1,000 in Darfur

"Much of the affected region has become mostly inaccessible to the UN and aid groups, with Doctors Without Borders describing the area as a black hole' in Sudan's humanitarian response. Sudan has appealed for international aid after a landslide destroyed an entire village in the western Darfur region, killing more than 1,000 people in one of the deadliest natural disasters in recent history in the country beset by a brutal civil war."

"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 have been mobilised to support the area. Luca Renda, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, said he was deeply saddened by the reported landslide, adding that the UN and its partners were mobilising to support affected communities at the scene."

"A local emergency network, which has been providing support to communities across Sudan during the war, said its teams recovered the bodies of at least nine people on Tuesday. Search teams were facing challenges to reach the area because of bad weather and a lack of resources, it added. Mohamed Abdel-Rahman al-Nair, a SLM/A spokesman, told The Associated Press news agency that the village where the landslide took place is remote and accessible only by foot or donkeys."

A landslide levelled the village of Tarasin in the Marrah Mountains of Central Darfur after days of heavy rainfall, killing an estimated more than 1,000 residents and leaving a single survivor. The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, which controls the area, appealed to the United Nations and international aid groups for help to recover bodies. Much of the affected region is mostly inaccessible to the UN and aid groups, with Doctors Without Borders describing the area as a 'black hole' in Sudan's humanitarian response. Sudan's rulers and the UN say they are mobilising capabilities to support affected communities, but search teams face bad weather, remote terrain and lack of resources.

Read at www.aljazeera.com