New alert as hundreds missing after Brazilian dam disaster
RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil authorities suspended the search for more than 250 people still missing after the collapse of a dam owned by iron ore giant Vale SA, as rising waters prompted evacuations and fears of a new breach.
Brumadinho city centre and other nearby neighbourhoods were evacuated on Sunday after alarms were raised due to rising waters in another dam at the Corrego do Feijao iron ore mining complex in the region of Minas Gerais. The death toll from Friday’s accident now stands at 37, Civil Defense spokesman Lieutenant Pedro Aihara said at a televised conference.
The incident on Friday at the Feijao mine, in Brumadinho city, is the second deadly dam accident in just more than three years involving the world’s biggest iron ore producer. The risk of another accident adds pressure on the Brazilian miner, with the company now facing questions on its ability to prevent similar disasters. It also tests Brazil president Jair Bolsonaro’s leadership skills less than a month after his inauguration and may upend his plans to ease environmental restrictions and boost mining production through reforms in Congress.
Bolsonaro flew over the site on Saturday and promised to support the victims and investigate the accident. The president returned to Sao Paulo on Sunday, where he is expected to undergo intestinal surgery on Monday.
A Minas Gerais state judge froze 5 billion reais ($1.3 billion) of Vale’s funds to ensure it has enough money to cover human and ecological costs stemming from the disaster. Another judge placed a freeze order on 1 billion reais, while environmental agency Ibama slapped 250 million in fines against the company.
In a statement, Vale said it isn’t necessary for authorities to block the funds to compel the company to provide emergency services and restoration from the accident. It said that it was notified of the first judicial ruling and will deposit 1 billion reais, adding that it hadn’t been notified of the second ruling.
Brazil’s worst-ever environmental catastrophe happened in November 2015 -- the Samarco tailings dam spill that killed 19 near Mariana municipality. Samarco is co-owned by Vale. On Friday, a similar accident at Brumadinho unleashed sludge into a rural valley in Minas Gerais state, sweeping up people, cars and burying homes and roads under one million cubic metres of waste. WASHINGTON : Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu lawmaker in the US Congress, will officially launch her 2020 White House campaign with a speech on February 2.
Gabbard had announced her intention to run in a TV interview this month, but had added that she would be doing a formal launch at a later date, which she declared in a letter to supporters.
At the Hawaii state legislature, the three-term member of the House of Representatives invoked a speech by Martin Luther King Jr, the iconic leader of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, in which he sought inspiration from the state on how to achieve racial harmony.
“You can never know what it means to those of us caught for the moment in the tragic and often dark midnight of man’s inhumanity to man, to come to a place where we see the glowing daybreak of freedom and dignity and racial justice,” King had said.
“It is in this spirit of compassion and respect for the freedom and dignity of all people that I’m offering to serve you as your President,” Gabbard wrote in the letter to her supporters. She then asked them if they would like to tune in to her live on “Saturday, February 2, when I’ll be officially announcing my candidacy for President, to hear my vision for the country and the movement we will build together”.
Incidentally, Senator Kamala Harris also invoked King when launching her presidential bid.