Several people have been killed in the southern Brazilian city of Mariana after two dams holding waste from an iron ore mine burst. A flood of slurry
Several people have been killed in the southern Brazilian city of Mariana after two dams holding waste from an iron ore mine burst.
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A flood of slurry engulfed dozens of homes and buried vehicles.
Local media has reported that up to 16 people have been killed and dozens are missing.
Residents living in an area downhill from the dams were told to evacuate to higher ground.
The mine is owned by Samarco, a joint venture between top iron ore mining companies: Brazil’s Vale and Australia’s BHP Billiton.
Samarco said the reason why the dams burst has not yet been determined.
BHP Billiton’s CEO told a news conference in Melbourne that a full assessment of casualties and damage had been hampered by darkness.
Army units in Brazil were helping the search and rescue efforts on Friday.
Brazilian authorities are determining the number of casualties after dam burst https://t.co/FS57NImNbY pic.twitter.com/CExn8pmaQB
— New York Times World (
nytimesworld) <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimesworld/status/662476328776679424">November 6, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br></br> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" lang="en" align="center"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">100-200 people could still be trapped in the dam collapse near Mariana Brazil. Rescues ongoing. <a href="https://t.co/TxJrkEhIAg">https://t.co/TxJrkEhIAg</a></p>— reported.ly (reportedly) November 6, 2015
#BREAKING: Iron tailings dam bursts in #Brazil, kills 15, causes environmental damages:media https://t.co/gbgnrcd5tr pic.twitter.com/bAHE4y7NCw
— China Xinhua News (
XHNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/XHNews/status/662421702874300416">November 6, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <br></br> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en" align="center"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BRAZIL: Photo of child being rescued by firefighters after dam break flooded neighborhood. (Via <a href="https://twitter.com/em_com">em_com) pic.twitter.com/w9GVrtWLEm— Gabriel Elizondo (@elizondogabriel) November 6, 2015