At least 370 people have been killed in today's landslide in Sudan, according to a senior UN official, who said the exact death toll is hard to confirm as the area is difficult to access.
The Sudan Liberation Movement, who control the area the mountain village is in, say the figure could be more than 1,000.
UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator Antoine Gérard said the village of Jebel Marra had been hosting thousands of people who were fleeing the ongoing civil war in Sudan.
"We can't confirm the number of people who died, but it is very unfortunate that this landslide has happened at a time that the region is actually exposed to conflict," he said.
"We are trying, in coordination with the Sudan Liberation Movement, to access the location. It is in Jebel Marra. It is in an area that is extremely remote. And we have been facing some difficulties to access to the location."
Speaking on RTÉ's Six One News, Mr Gérard said that aid had already been scarce in the region.
"This region of Jebel Marra has been actually welcoming the people who had fled from al-Fashir and the surrounding camps who had been attacked sometime in March, and the city of al-Fashir is still besieged," he said.
"It is very unfortunate that this tragedy is happening in this context where the local community has already been welcoming those who are displaced from this conflict.
"But the remote place where it happened makes even more difficult to provide the assistance and at the same time the NGOs and the United Nations are struggling to get all the commodities through."
Mr Gérard also thanked the Sudanese government for keeping crossings open to provide aid to the region.
Appeals for aid continue
An armed group that controls part of western Sudan appealed for foreign help in recovering bodies and rescuing residents.
Only one person survived the destruction of the village of Tarseen in the mountainous Jebel Marra area of the Darfur region, said the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A).
SLM/A, which has long controlled and governed an autonomous portion of Jebel Marra, appealed to the United Nations and international aid agencies to help collect the bodies of victims, including men, women and children.
"Tarseen, famed for its citrus production, has now been completely levelled to the ground," the group said in a statement.
Continuing rains have made travel in the region difficult and could impede any rescue or aid efforts.
"Nearby villagers are overwhelmed with fear that a similar fate might befall them if the ... torrential rainfall persists, which underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive evacuation plan and provision of emergency shelter," the group's leader, Abdelwahid Mohamed Nur, said in a separate appeal.
A statement by the UN's resident coordinator put the death toll at between 300 and 1,000, citing local reports.
Nine bodies were recovered by volunteers, said Abdelhafiz Ali from the Jebel Marra Emergency Room, who noted that the village had hosted hundreds of people displaced by fighting.
The SLM/A has remained neutral in the battle between the main enemies in Sudan's civil war, the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The two foes are fighting over control of al-Fashir, capital of North Darfur state, which is under siege from the RSF and has suffered famine.
Residents of al-Fashir and nearby areas have sought shelter in Jebel Marra, though food, shelter, and medical supplies are insufficient and hundreds of thousands have been exposed to the rains.
Tawila, where most have arrived, is in the throes of a cholera outbreak, as are other parts of Darfur.
The two-year civil war has left more than half of Sudan's population facing crisis levels of hunger and driven millions from their homes, leaving them especially exposed to the country's damaging annual floods.
Sudan's army-controlled government expressed its condolences and willingness to assist.
The prime minister of a newly-installed RSF-controlled rival government, Mohamed Hassan al-Taishi, said he would be coordinating with the SLM/A on the delivery of aid supplies to the area.
Pope Leo sent his condolences and said he was praying for those affected, according to a Vatican statement.
