Brumadinho (Brazil): Brazilian authorities arrested five people Tuesday in connection with a dam collapse that killed at least 65 people and left nearly 300 missing, and dead fish were seen downstream floating at the banks of a river that an indigenous community depends on for food and water.
The dam which held back iron-ore waste, owned and operated by mining company Vale SA, collapsed Friday – burying a company cafeteria, other Vale buildings and inundating part of the small southeastern city of Brumadinho.
Grieving relatives of the dead buried some of the victims in Brumadinho and rescue teams continued a delicate search through swaths of muck for more victims or survivors. One official said Tuesday the death toll was sure to rise.
The dead fish and trash were seen by a reporting team for this agency about 18 kilometers downstream from the dam along the banks of the Paraopeba River. The Pataxo Indians living alongside the river who use it to fish, bathe and gather water for the plants they cultivate as food were told by Brazilian environmental officials that they should no longer do so, said Hayo, the village chief who goes by one name.
“We used the river to take baths, to fish, to water our plants and now we can’t do any of that,” said Hayo, wearing a large feathered headdress and a red and black-beaded necklace.
In a statement sent to this agency, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources said it has asked Vale to ‘remove the dead fish, which are having an impact on the indigenous population’.
Three of the arrested worked for ‘Vale’, the company said, adding that it was cooperating with investigating authorities while two others were from a German company entrusted with the responsibility of dam maintenance. The Munich-based ‘TUEV Sued’ company declined to specify whether the arrested staff were from its German headquarters or its Brazilian branch.
In ordering the arrests, Minas Gerais state judge Perla Saliba Brito wrote that the disaster could have been ‘avoided’. Authorities said the five will be detained for 30 days while officials investigate possible criminal responsibility.
AP