Brazil dam disaster: Search resumes as death toll rises to 60

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Updated at 10:05 p.m. Monday BJT

Firefighters on Monday in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil have confirmed 60 people died in Friday's dam disaster, in which a tailings dam broke sending a torrent of sludge into the miners' offices and the town of Brumadinho.

Nearly 300 people remain unaccounted for, and officials said it was unlikely that anyone would be found alive, Reuters reported on Monday.

Updated at 07:15 a.m. Monday BJT

The number of people killed by the collapse of a dam at a Brazilian mining complex soared to 58, with 305 people still missing in southeast Brazil's Minas Gerais state, local authorities said Sunday.

Rescuers found a bus filled with bodies, Minas Gerais state civil defense spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Flavio Godinho told the media.

Search operations have resumed after being halted for a few hours over concerns that a second dam could give way.

There are enough supplies in the disaster-affected areas and the authorities have stopped accepting donations, according to local officials.

Firefighters search for bodies in the region of Corrego do Feijao in Brumadinho, two days after the collapse of a dam at an iron-ore mine belonging to Brazil's giant mining company Vale near the town of Brumadinho, state of Minas Gerias, southeastern Brazil, January 27, 2019. /VCG photo

Updated at 08:13 p.m. Sunday BJT

An alarm warning of an imminent mining dam rupture went up early Sunday in Brumadinho, the same Brazilian community where a dam collapsed killing 34 with hundreds more feared dead, firefighters and the mining company Vale said.

The disaster struck Friday at the Vale mine near the city of Belo Horizonte in Minas Gerais state, spewing millions of tons of muddy sludge across the facility and down towards farmland alongside the nearby town of Brumadinho. At least 34 are confirmed dead and 300 went missing.

Many survivors told a CCTV reporter that they heard a giant sound before escaping quickly. "I heard a giant sound and went out watching mud destroying everything," Pedro, a witness, said. "We could have died if the disaster happened at night."

Another witness, Joanna, is still under shock after the disaster: "I took bottled water and stayed awake all the time and watched the river all night."

A woman receives medical attention after a dam, owned by Brazilian miner Vale SA, burst in Brumadinho, Brazil, January 26, 2019. / VCG photo

Updated at 07:14 a.m. Sunday BJT

A total of 34 people were confirmed dead and nearly 300 went missing on Saturday after a dam collapsed at a mine in southeast Brazil.

Dozens of helicopters were used in the rescue operation Saturday because the released mud engulfed buildings, vehicles and roads with a deep, treacherous layer.

Rescue officials announced the death toll had more than tripled through the day as more and more bodies were pulled from the mud.

By the most recent count, nearly 300 people were missing, virtually all of them mine workers listed by Vale.

Among the more than 170 survivors rescued, 23 were hospitalized with injuries.

Aerial view of the mudslides area a day after the Brazilian dam disaster, January 26, 2019. /VCG photo

Updated at 13:17 p.m. Saturday BJT

At least nine people were killed and 300 left missing when a dam in an iron-ore mine in southeast Brazil collapsed Friday, local firefighters said early Saturday, doubling the number of missing people.

Updated at 07:24 a.m. Saturday BJT

At least seven people were killed and 150 left missing after a dam in an iron-ore mine in Brazil southeast collapsed Friday, the local government of the affected state of Minas Gerais was quoted by AFP as saying. "According to information confirmed by fire services, seven bodies have been found... and 150 people are still listed as missing," authorities said in a statement. A previous count by the fire service spoke of 200 missing.

For earlier reports:

200 reported missing after Brazil dam collapse

A general view of the aftermath from a failed iron ore tailings dam in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil, January 25, 2019. /VCG photo

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro flew over the devastated zone, later tweeting that it was "difficult to not be emotional before this scene."

All was being done to care for survivors and "determine the facts, to demand justice and prevent new tragedies," he added.

The military said it was deploying 1,000 troops, including sniffer dogs, to the affected zone under orders from the president.

The disaster was the first big emergency faced by Bolsonaro and his government since he took office in early January, and one of the biggest disasters in Brazil's history.

(With input from agencies)

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