Villagers in a remote area of Sudan’s western Darfur region tried yesterday to reach buried victims by hand after a devastating landslide on Sunday, aid group, Save the Children, told the BBC.
“People are excavating by hand to rescue the bodies of their relatives since there are no tools or machinery”, Francesco Lanino, the group’s deputy Sudan director for programmes and operations, said.
It is unclear how many people died – a figure from the national health ministry states that only two bodies have been recovered, but an armed group in charge of the area gives the toll as high as 1,000.
Save the Children said at least 373 bodies had been recovered, according to the head of the Civil Authority.
Mr Lanino said “1,000 lives may have been lost, including an estimated 200 children.”
Save the Children staff described scenes of “destruction and devastation” after the landslide caused by heavy rainfall. Mr Lanino said teams on location believe the landslide to be “one of the most tragic and large-scale disasters in the region’s history”.
He added that in the impacted Tarseen area, which is made up of five villages, there is only one known survivor in the worst-hit village.
Independently verifying the impact of the landslide has been difficult due to the remoteness of the area.
However, through analysis of satellite imagery, BBC Verify was able to identify nine buildings and structures that were washed away in the disaster.
