The morning of Jan. 25, families had seconds to run from their homes with their loved ones in the town of Brumadinho, Brazil. Vale, a well-known mining company, had an iron ore mining complex right outside of the town of Brumadinho which ruptured, releasing sludge and mining waste throughout the valley, covering houses and destroying the landscape.
Fire brigades searched the lands, knowing that many workers and citizens were covered in mud. However, the issue that occurred was due to the lack of alarm for this incident.
According to the authorities, alarms should blare when the possibility of a rupture happens within the mining complex.
There was no alarm for the incident as it happened too fast; many citizens only warning was hearing the screaming from other families seeing the mud come flooding towards their houses. Authorities were still worried there would be a second incident of a dam collapse and rescuers searched more vigorously, evacuating all citizens.
The water leveled within the second dam but it did not collapse. All in all, over 85 people have been confirmed dead with about 276 people still missing. The explosion of the dam was a horrible incident, but many believe it could have been stopped . The mine had passed safety inspections in June and Sept. of 2018.
Within a week, government agencies have been acting against Vale by freezing the accounts of the company.
They have frozen over three billion dollars to pay for victims’ families and costs of the damage to the town. Vale is not the only company in trouble for this incident, families are mad at the government officials who had promised better safety protocols.
“Seconds after we left, I saw a wave drag away everything, the house, everything,” Dari Pereira said, an operator, whose house was destroyed from the flood.
Taking into consideration the number of victims from this dam collapse, the protocols have not been fixed. There have been incidences when dams were considered unstable yet still ran accordingly. However, according to officials, this dam was considered stable.
As an action towards justice, the Brazilian police have arrested five people who would have been directly involved with the dams recent safety inspections. Families are still weeping for the loved ones, desiring actions to be made to better protect the environments surrounding the mines within Brazil.
Source: NPR.com, The New York Times