Move FM Global News

BRUMADINHO, Brazil – Authorities in Brazil said that rescue operations after the collapse of a dam in the country continued on Sunday, while the death toll rose to 40.

On Friday, a dam collapsed near Brumadinho town, in the southeast Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte in Minas Gerais, leaving more than 300 people missing.

The tailings dam burst at the Feijao iron mine that is owned by Vale SA and immediately triggered search and rescue operations.

Brazilian rescue officials said on Saturday that nine people had been found dead after the dam burns and nearly 200 people were rescued.

However, workers were still searching for about 300 others that remained missing.

Romeu Zema, Governor of Minas Gerais said in a statement, “Unfortunately, at this point, the chances of finding survivors are minimal. We’re likely to just be rescuing bodies.”

Further, Brumadinho Mayor Avimar de Melo Barcelos said that the cause of the rupture is not known.

He warned that the death toll was expected to rise sharply.

A police spokesman told reporters that search dogs had been flown in from Rio de Janeiro to assist in the search operation.

He added that rescuers had mapped out four points where people could still be found alive, including a cafeteria that was buried in sludge.

Three Brazilian government minister visited the site of the dam collapse on Friday and the country’s President Jair Bolsonaro flew over the disaster area in Minas Gerais on Saturday.

Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter, “Our main concern at this moment is attending to potential victims of this grave tragedy.”

‘History repeats itself’

The disaster came three years after a similar incident involving the same mining company.

In November 2015, a larger dam collapse buried a village and poured toxic waste into a major river, killing 19 people.

The dam was owned by Samarco Mineracao SA, a joint venture between Vale and BHP Group Ltd and the incident was said to be Brazil’s worst environmental disaster.

Vale SA said on Saturday that roughly 300 workers were on site at the time of the rupture and all those that remain missing were Vale employees or contractors.

Fabio Schvartsman, CEO at Vale has apologized for the disaster, calling it “unacceptable.”

He said that the dam that burst at the Feijao iron mine was stable but was being decommissioned. adding that the company had initiated its “emergency plan for dams.”

He said, “Apologies to society, apologies to you, apologies to the whole world for what has happened. I don’t know who is responsible, but you can be sure we’ll do our part.”

In a statement on Saturday, German auditor TUV SUD said that it had inspected the tailings dam last September and had found it to be operating well at the time.

Vale, which is the world’s largest producer of iron ore has been ordered to halt operations at the Corrego do Feijao mine, located near the town of Brumadinho by the National Mining Agency.

The repeated collapse has been blamed on the lack of country’s environmental regulation.

Marina Silva, a former environmental minister and three-time presidential candidate wrote on Twitter, “History repeats itself as tragedy in Brumadinho. It’s unacceptable that government and mining companies haven’t learned anything.”

Meanwhile, Brazil’s Attorney General Raquel Dodge has said that an investigation into the dam collapse is underway, pointing out, “Someone is definitely at fault.”