About 200 People Reported Missing After Mining Dam Collapses in Brazil

Some 200 people are unaccounted for after a mining dam collapsed in Brazil at an iron ore mine, a local fire brigade said on Friday. At least 50 are feared dead, local media reported.

A dam collapsed at an iron ore mine owned by Vale SA in Brazil, leaving some 200 people missing, the fire brigade in Belo Horizonte, the capital of the state of Minas Gerais, said in a statement.

At least 50 people died as a result of the disaster, local newspaper Hoje em Dia reported, quoting Avimar de Melo, the mayor of Brumadinho.

The aftermath of a dam collapse at an iron ore mine owned by Vale SA in Brazil.

© Sputnik

Earlier, several reports said that the accident had left three people dead and seven injured, while 100 people had been rescued. A number of residents in the area were evacuated as rescue teams were dispatched. Later, official data said that at least 7 people died in the disaster.

A fireman told Reuters that some 100 Vale SA employees among the missing were at lunch in the area at time of the disaster.

Vale SA, a Brazilian multinational corporation, is one of the largest logistics operators in Brazil and also the largest producer of iron ore and nickel in the world.

👉 IMAGENS AÉREAS DA TRAGÉDIA DE BRUMADINHO

Polícia Militar de Minas Gerais divulga vídeo aéreo da região atingida por rejeitos da mineradora Vale pic.twitter.com/7WYXI5AcWt

— UOL Notícias (@UOLNoticias) January 25, 2019

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O nosso repórter Lucas Catta Prêta sobrevoou a região atingida pelo rompimento da Barragem de Feijão, da Vale, em Brumadinho, na RMBH. pic.twitter.com/NSBg0AolQv

— Rádio BandNews FM BH (@RadioBandNewsBH) January 25, 2019

The incident comes four years after the collapse of another iron ore tailings dam in Brazil, which was owned by Vale SA and BHP Billiton. That collapse killed at least 17 people and is described as the worst environmental disaster in Brazil's history.