In this week’s issue: Dam collapses in Minas Gerais, nine confirmed dead, hundreds missing. The worrying status of Brazil’s dams. The week in review.
Dam collapses in Minas Gerais, nine confirmed dead, hundreds missing
A tailings dam collapse on Friday afternoon in the town of Brumadinho, in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, has claimed at least nine lives and left hundreds missing. The exact causes of the incident are unclear, and rescue operations have been underway for the last 24 hours. President Jair Bolsonaro will visit the region on Saturday afternoon and stated that the government would do “everything in [its] power to minimize the damage.”
The catastrophe comes just over three years after the Mariana mining collapse
, which saw 50 million cubic meters of tailings empty into the Rio Doce, leaving 19 dead, destroying the nearby town of Bento Rodrigues and causing irreparable environmental damage. The two incidents are linked, as the dams in question were both administered by Vale, Brazil’s largest mining company.
The fire brigade promptly stated that approximately 200 people were missing, while revised figures are closer to 400. On Saturday afternoon, Vale released a list of 413 dam employees who they were...