In the latest reports from the devastating burst dam in Brazil, at least 17 people are killed and over 50 injured.
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Emergency officials say that at least one death, of a mining company employee, has been confirmed in the aftermath. “The number of missing will rise because we’re talking to the residents of Bento [Rodrigues] and a few people still aren’t accounted for”, said Duarte Junior, mayor of the nearby city of Mariana.
Brazilian company Vale SA and Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton Ltd, two of the largest mining companies in the world, own the iron mine that was responsible for the collection of waste water unleashed when the dams burst.
Civil defense authorities in Mariana said it was evacuating about 600 people to higher ground from the village of Bento Rodrigues, where television footage showed dozens of homes destroyed by the mudslide. “We don’t even know that we’ll find everybody”, said a spokesman for the fire department on Friday as rescue teams worked through debris from Thursday mudslides in a village near the city of Mariana. “We lost everything. It moved so fast”, she said.
“But having said that, it’s up to the dam safety people, or the engineers, to calculate the impact of any additional load that would be placed on the structure by raising the water level by one meter”, he said.
The FTSE 100 miner said the dam burst just before dusk, and it is working closely with Samarco to “better understand the circumstances” of the “tragic” incident.
“It could be a significant amount of time before it [Samarco] gets back to production, so I am only surprised we haven’t seen a bigger selloff”, Mr Nicholson said.
Half a dozen jeeps carrying water and emergency supplies rolled through Barra Longa on their way to Gesteira, one of several remote villages along the river that rescuers had not yet reached.
Two dams at an iron ore mine collapsed in Brazil on Thursday, resulting in a growing number of casualties and missing persons.
Samarco has not said when the mine, which produces around 30 tons of iron ore a year, is likely to re-open.
For reasons yet unknown, the dam broke about 4:20 p.m. (1820 GMT) between the old colonial towns of Ouro Preto and Mariana, in a major mining region.
“As soon as the mud started to come down, the residents started helping and informing their neighbors and assisting those who had difficulties walking”, he said.
The waste material, known in the industry as tailings, is mostly silica from iron-ore processing and doesn’t contain chemicals that are harmful to health, Samarco said.
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According to Samarco officials, all dams have operation licenses issued by the regional environmental office and the last inspection in July indicated that they were in safe conditions. BHP Billiton and Vale already face the lowest iron ore prices in a decade.
