Deadly mudflow in Brazil smothers village
Small community destroyed after dams at iron mine break, 100 unaccounted for
MARIANA, BRAZIL— Rescuers on Friday spirited survivors out of a mountainous area of southeastern Brazil that was flooded with a sea of viscous, clay-red mud after two dams burst at an iron ore mine. Officials said two people were killed, four were injured and 13 were missing.
The rupture unleashed a mix of water and mining residue on a village 7 kilometres downhill, smothering the enclave of Bento Rodrigues. Only about 10 of the village’s around 200 houses were left standing, and cars and other objects were tossed by what survivors described as an eruption of mud.
Residents said no alarms sounded to warn them about the dam break Thursday afternoon, but they scrambled for higher ground after hearing a deafening burst. Officials have not said what caused the breach, but Guilherme de Sa Meneghin of the state prosecutor’s office said there would be a criminal investigation as there should have been some sort of alarm system in place.
De Sa Meneghin and Minas Gerais state Gov. Fernando Pimentel said two people died, though the state fire department had confirmed only one death so far. The department said four people were injured and another 13 missing, though it warned that the latter figure could rise. About 100 of the nearly 600 people thought to live in the area have yet to be accounted for.
Speaking at a news conference Friday, Pimentel called it “a terrible scene, an environmental tragedy” and said the accident was the “biggest natural disaster in the history of our state.”
Resident Joaquim Teofilo Dutra said a loud noise was the first sign residents had that something was wrong. “When I went outside there were already people running uphill saying the dam burst,” Dutra told The Associated Press. “All I did was close my house and run to the top.”
Rescue worker Denir Ubaldo Monterio said neighbours banded together to escape the mudflow.
“As soon as the mud started to come down, the residents started helping and informing their neighbours and assisting those who had difficulties walking,” he said. “When the firefighter helicopter arrived, the mud was still coming down.”
Hundreds of survivors were taking shelter in a gym in the nearby city of Mariana, a colonial tourist hub 300 kilometres north of Rio de Janeiro. People slept on mattresses scattered across the floor and picked through piles of donated clothing. Others were sent to area hotels.
Many of the survivors were treated for foot injuries sustained as they rushed barefoot from their homes through the devastated terrain, and later trekked along scorching asphalt.
O Globo newspaper quoted state fire official Vinicius Teixeira as say- ing rescue work was made difficult by the still wet, quicksand-like mud.
“Whoever steps on it runs a great risk of sinking and drowning in this mud,” he said, adding that it reached roof-level in some areas. “There is a risk of bodies not being found.”
Authorities initially said only one dam had burst at the mine roughly 20 kilometres from Mariana, a city of about 40,000 residents. But in a video posted later on the Facebook page of mine operator Samarco, company president Ricardo Vescovi said two dams at the facility had failed.
“Our focus in this critical moment is to preserve the integrity of people and of the environment,” Vescovi said in the video. “We are deeply sorry and we are very moved by what happened, but we are also in full action to stop the damage caused by this tragic accident.”
Samarco is jointly owned by the Brazilian mining company Vale and Australia’s BHP Billiton.
Vale has operations in a number of countries around the world including Canada, where it has assets in Sudbury, Ont., Thompson, Man., and Newfoundland and Labrador, among other places. BHP Billiton owns the Jansen potash project in Saskatchewan.