Brazil dam disaster: Shocking photos of rivers turning red in horror tragedy

The shocking images show how rivers of thick red mud were unleashed by the dam break at the Corrego do Feijao iron ore mine in Minas Gerais state. Mine buildings and houses in neighbouring towns were destroyed by the torrents of mud and a bus and train are also thought to have been engulfed. The official death toll from the disaster stands at 34 but more than 300 people are still missing and have been give little chance of survival.

The grim images were taken by spotters on one of the dozen or so helicopters that flew over the area to survey the disaster zone and aid the rescue teams.

The state fire department said only 10 bodies had been recovered so far with 300 people still missing and 46 found alive.

A police spokesman said the missing were all Vale employees or contractors.

Minas Gerais governor Romeu Zema said: “Unfortunately, at this point, the chances of finding survivors are minimal. We’re likely to just be recovering bodies.”

Mr Zema said the mining complex had all its permits in order and it was unclear what caused the collapse of the dam, which had been inactive for years.

He said search dogs were being flown in from Rio de Janeiro to aid in the rescue efforts and that Israel had offered to send search equipment that could be used to find victims in up to 33ft of mud.

The National Mining Agency ordered Vale, the largest producer of iron ore in the world, to halt operations at the Corrego do Feijao mine, located near the town of Brumadinho in mining-focused Minas Gerais

Brumadinho mayor Avimar de Melo Barcelos said the death toll was expected to rise sharply.

New Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro visited Minas Gerais and flew over the disaster area Saturday morning.

Vale Chief Executive Fabio Schvartsman said the dam that burst on Friday was being decommissioned and its capacity was about a fifth of the total waste spilled at Samarco.

He said equipment had shown the dam was stable on January 10 and it was too soon to say why it collapsed.

The Corrego do Feijao mine is one of four in Vale’s Paraoeba complex, which includes two processing plants.

The complex produced 26 million tonnes of iron ore in 2017, or about 7 percent of Vale’s output, with Corrego do Feijao accounting for 7.8 million tonnes.

source: express.co.uk