Reckoning begins for dam disaster

– Brazilian police arrested eight employees of mining company Vale SA as part of a criminal investigation into the causes of the deadly dam disaster in the town of Brumadinho.

The police also carried out 14 search warrants as part of the probe, prosecutors in the mining state of Minas Gerais said yesterday.

Employees of Vale, operator of the tailings dam that collapsed last month, and German auditing firm TUV SUD that certified the dam as stable were targeted.

Authorities in Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro are involved in the operation.

The Vale employees were responsible for the security and stability of the Brumadinho dam and will remain in prison for 30 days.

The January 25 disaster killed more than 160 people. Vale said in a statement it is cooperating with authorities. Chief executive Fabio Schvartsman said in response to questions from lawmakers, that the company’s safety procedures had not worked.

Tailings are the mud-like byproducts, including finely ground rock particles, left over from mining.