Collapse of a mining dam in Brazil

On Friday, January 25, 2019, a dam of industrial residues, owned by the mining giant Vale in Brazil, collapsed. There was a mud of 12.7 million m3 burying its path.The town of Brumadinho in Minas Gerais State, with 39 000 inhabitants, was heavily affected.

According to a first toll, the collapse of the dam claimed the lives of 58 people and reported 305 others missing with little chance for survival.

In November 2015, the region witnessed a similar catastrophe with the rupture of the Mariana dam. The building was the property of the Brazilian mining company Samarco, co-owned by Vale and the Anglo-Australian group BHP. At the time, 39 million m3 of mud invaded 650 km2 destroying homes, fields and ecosystems. Nineteen people perished and the insured losses amounted to 450 million USD.