Vale, BHP reach final deal with prosecutors over Brazil disaster

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazilian prosecutors in Minas Gerais state said on Tuesday they reached a final compensation deal with mining companies Samarco, Vale <VALE3.SA> and BHP Billiton <BHP.AX> regarding the dam burst in Mariana, Brazil's largest ever environmental disaster.

According to a statement from Mariana prosecutors released late on Tuesday, the deal allows for compensation payments to start to relatives of the 19 people killed in the 2015 disaster, as well as to people who lost their houses and other properties.

(Reporting by Marta Nogueira and Marcelo Teixeira; Editing by Toni Reinhold)