Brazil: dam bursts, killing several people in Mariana



MARIANA: -- Several people have been killed near the town of Mariana after a dam holding mining waste burst, engulfing houses and vehicles near the Germano mine in Minas Gerais.

Brazilian media reported that at least 15 people have been killed and dozens are missing. There has been no official confirmation on the number of deaths.

Mining company Samarco, a joint venture between top iron ore miners Brazil’s Vale and Australia’s BHP Billiton, said in a statement it had not yet determined why the dam burst or the extent of the disaster.

Civil defence authorities in Mariana said they were evacuating about 600 people to higher ground from the village of Bento Rodrigues.


-- (c) Copyright Euronews 2015-11-06

A dam holding "mining water" ..... sounds harmless enough ..... almost like "mineral water" and they have "not yet determined why the dam burst or the extent of the disaster" ... methinks that this is one they will try to play down, some of the chemicals in tailings dams can be environmental nightmares.

When they say "missing" you just know they are buried under a lot of heavy thick mud, probably never to be found.

It was a tailings damn and the water was described as "mining waste". So most likely full of chemicals and heavy metals like you say Oztaurus...and an environmental disaster...

The mine was jointly owned by VALE and BHP.