Brazil Dam Collapse: Hundreds Feared Dead Under Wave of Mud
TRAGIC
More than 30 people have been confirmed killed but the death toll is expected to rise sharply.
Washington Alves/Reuters
Hundreds are still missing and feared dead after a dam owned by a mining company in Brazil burst, unleashing a wave of mud that took down homes and washed out roads. Authorities confirmed 34 people were killed in the Friday catastrophe, according to Reuters, but the toll is expected to climb as rescue crews work their way through the sludge, looking for survivors. “Unfortunately, at this point, the chances of finding survivors are minimal. We’re likely to just be recovering bodies,” Romeu Zema, governor of Minas Gerais, told reporters. The missing include 260 employees of mine owner Vale SA, many of whom were eating lunch when the dam broke. “I know a lot of the affected people: Two sisters-in-law, a cousin, many friends there in the community. They’re in the mud,” local resident Carlos Jose dos Santos told Reuters.
