Good morning! Brumadinho one week on; 110 dead, sirens “were engulfed by mud.” Congress returns from holidays and elects its leaders. A strong January for Brazilian markets.
Brumadinho one week on; 110 dead, sirens “were engulfed by mud”
One week after the tailings dam failure at a Vale-controlled
mine in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, the death toll has risen to 110 and 238 are still missing. At this late stage, the chances of finding any survivors are almost impossible. No-one has been found alive since Saturday. The human tragedy of the catastrophe cannot be understated. The town of Brumadinho has a population of less than 40,000 and is heavily connected to the Vale mining operations, meaning that there will be very few families that have not been directly affected by the dam failure.
According to the rescue efforts, the vast majority of bodies found so far have been near the surface of the mud spill, meaning that the remaining missing persons are likely to be buried deep under the toxic tailings. The operations will now focus on excavating the soil to find the remaining dead, a much slower process. Speaking to the press yesterday, Vale CEO Fábio Schvartsman discussed the...