Death toll from dam disaster at Brazil mine rises to 34
Brasília, Jan 27: At least 34 people have been confirmed dead and hundreds are missing Saturday after a dam burst a day earlier at a Brazilian iron mine, according to the local fire department.
The latest death toll comes from the Minas Gerais Fire Department, which is conducting search and rescue operations. Of the 34 confirmed dead, the fire department said 22 bodies have been recovered.
Rescue teams have been scouring the site near the town of Brumadinho, following Friday's collapse. It is not clear what caused the failure of the dam, owned by Vale, Brazil's largest mining company.
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Some 366 people have been rescued, Minas Gerais state fire department says. Of those, 23 have been taken to hospital.
Built in 1976, the dam was one of several in the area and it was used to hold residue from the mine. It had a capacity of 12m cubic metres and had been an inactive site for three years, Vale said.
What
happened
in
2015?
On
5
November
2015,
a
dam
-
also
owned
by
Vale,
along
with
BHP
Billiton
-
burst
at
a
Samarco
mine
in
Mariana.
More
than
60m
cubic
metres
-
enough
to
fill
20,000
Olympic
swimming
pools
-
spilled
over
into
the
surrounding
area.
After
a
lengthy
court
case,
BHP
Billiton
and
Vale
reached
a
settlement
worth
at
least
6.8bn
reais
($1.8bn)
with
the
Brazilian
government.