From dam hell
and contractors who it said it had been unable to contact and so were presumed missing in the aftermath.
The dam had been full of iron ore waste, a material which is known as tailings.
ALARM
It appeared that it had burst its retaining barrier and flooded a second dam below it, causing that to overflow.
There were reports that the dam’s alarm system, to which local residents had been trained to respond, had failed.
But Vale president Fabio Schvartsman said the accident may have happened too quickly for a siren which triggers security Bolsonaro flew over the stricken procedures to be activated. area yesterday after dispatching
Mr Schvartsman added: three ministers there on Friday. “Most of those Brumadinho, set affected were in rolling countryside, Vale employees. has dozens of
“I’m completely guesthouses for torn apart by tourists visiting what happened.” the nearby Inhotim
Brazilian TV outdoor art showed images of complex. survivors being Local media said winched to safety Inhotim, which by a helicopter attracts visitors from after the disaster all over the world, at the Feijão mine, had been evacuated less than two but was not affected. hours from the As videos and state capital Belo Horizonte. photos of the devastation The country’s president Jair appeared on social media, enraged Brazilians demanded punishment for anyone found to be responsible.
The tragedy comes less than four years after another tailings dam collapsed in Minas Gerais, killing 19 people in what became Brazil’s worst environmental disaster.
The Bento Rodrigues dam was operated by Samarco, which at the time in November 2015 was jointly owned by Vale and the Anglo-australian mining firm BHP Billiton.
Toxic sludge from the dam flowed more than 200 miles down rivers, entered the Atlantic and polluted ocean beaches.
karen.rockett@mirror.co.uk Damaged bridge
Chances of us finding survivors are low, it’s bodies we will rescue ROMEU ZEMA GOVERNOR OF MINAS GERAIS STATE