Pope Leo XIV has expressed his condolences for the over 1,000 people who have been killed in Sudan’s western Darfur region after heavy rains caused a landslide that destroyed an entire village.
By Devin Watkins
A landslide wiped out Tarasin, a village in Sudan’s Darfur region, on August 31, following several days of heavy rainfall.
At least 1,000 people were killed in the village in the Marrah Mountains area, according to the Sudan Liberation Movement-Army.
On Tuesday, Pope Leo XIV sent a telegram to Bishop Yunan Tombe Trille Kuku Andali, Bishop of El Obeid Diocese, to express his sorrow.
In the message signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, the Pope assured everyone of his “spiritual closeness,” saying he prays for the dead, all those who mourn their loss, and the rescue of the many people still missing.
Pope Leo entrusted those who have died to the mercy of God and prayed for “the divine blessings of consolation and strength” for the nation of Sudan.
Village completely destroyed
The Sudan Liberation Movement-Army appealed to international aid organizations and the United Nations on Monday for help recovering the bodies of victims.
In their statement, the Sudan Liberation Movement-Army, which controls the area located in the Darfur region but has not taken sides in the civil conflict, said the entire village had been “completely levelled to the ground.”
“Initial information indicates the death of all village residents, estimated to be more than one thousand people. Only one person survived,” read the statement.
The ruling Sovereign Council in Khartoum mourned the deaths of the “innocent residents” of Tarasin, saying it has mobilized rescue forces to the assist in the area.
Sudan’s civil conflict has raged for over two years, after the tensions between the country’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces exploded.
Drastic humanitarian situation
The United Nations and other aid groups have not been able to access many areas of the Darfur region due to the fighting, including villages in the Marrah Mountains.
Doctors Without Borders, a medical charity, previously warned that the area represents “a black hole” in the humanitarian response in Sudan.
The Marrah Mountains are a rugged volcanic chain that runs for 160 kilometres to the southwest of el-Fasher, a flashpoint in the conflict.
Many displaced families have fled el-Fasher for the relative safety of the mountainous region.
Over 40,000 people have been killed—and 14 million people displaced—due to Sudan’s civil conflict, with famine and disease running rampant in the war-torn Darfur region.
