the Mayor of the city of Brumadinho announced that seven deaths have been found in the lermassorna that poured over the city Friday afternoon, local time. A few hours later, writes the news site Globo that the rescue service confirms nine dead and about 150 were missing.
Gruvbolagets head fears the deaths will rise.
– Environmentally, this accident is less than the one in Mariana. But in life figured expected this disaster to be worse, ” says Fábio Schvartsman, head of mining company Vale.
Romeu Zema, governor of the state of Minas Gerais, telling Globo:
” Very likely, we will from now only to find dead bodies.
rescue workers looking for survivors after dammkatastrofen at the mine near Brumadinho in Brazil. Foto: Douglas Magno / AFP
has invested 1.7 billion in the mining company Vale, which is behind the accidents. After the first accident three years ago outside the town of Mariana said gruvbolagets the manager that it was the last time that the company was involved in an environmental disaster. Anyway, it happened again.
the Company’s shares have plummeted by eight per cent in value on the stock exchange and this tragedy has got environmental groups to once again criticize the Vale who have previously received the less flattering distinction of ”the World’s dirtiest companies”.
– This new dammkatastrof is a consequence of a lesson that neither the Brazilian government or the mining company learned of, ” said Nilo D’ávila, the campaign’s manager for the environmental organization Greenpeace.
naturskyddsverket Ibama had mine permission to have a pond with lermassor of up to one million cubic metres. Reports show that the company had collected thirteen times more lermassor before the dam burst.
” this is not an accident, but if an environmental crime that must be investigated. The guilty must be punished and victims need to be replaced. Even today, three years after the accident in Mariana, are still struggling, they hit to the river Rio Doce shall be restored, ” says Nilo D’ávila.
Järnmalmsdammen is located only a few miles outside the city of Belo Horizonte and lermassorna have closed a river in the region. There is a risk that the river may change direction, and the wash over villages. The world-famous art museum Inhotim, which has its works in a large park, only two miles from the accident, will be closed on Saturday and Sunday.
Brumadinho is located three miles southwest of the city of Belo Horizonte. Photo: Screenshot: Google maps
” We deeply regret that it occurred. We know that in principle it is possible to avoid these accidents, ” says the president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro.
He has appointed a crisis team to help families in the search for relatives, and has promised to fly over the disaster area in a helicopter during the day. Most of the missing belong to the mining company Vale and had lunch in the company dining room when the dam burst. Lermassorna swept over the dining room and the staff had no time to escape.
“We will be working 24 hours a day to minimize this tragedy,” says Jair Bolsonaro.
Jair Bolsonaro is looking at the scope from a helicopter. Photo: Isac Nobrega/AFP
to reduce the regulatory environment for Brazil’s resource companies, and is now facing criticism after the country’s largest mining company, once again caused an environmental disaster. The last accident claimed 19 lives when lermassorna brought death on the river Rio Doce, which flows into the Atlantic ocean. The fish died and the toxins from the lermassorna threatened to poison the endangered sea turtles that lay their eggs on the beach where the Rio Doce meets the sea.
the Last time the mining company caused an environmental disaster, defended the AP-funds ‘ ethics council, the investment of 1.7 billion, with Vale ”taken action to inspect the other tailing and started to help the inhabitants of the region. So long as not otherwise indicated consider Etikrådet this as an accident, and follows the further development”. The question is how the AP funds ‘ ethics council sets itself to the investment, now when the mining company caused an environmental disaster yet again?
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