Brazil mine disaster death toll jumps to 84

BRUMADINHO: The number of people killed by the collapse of a dam at a Brazilian mining complex rose from 65 to 84 on Tuesday, with the number of missing down from 292 to 276, an official said.

Lieutenant Flavio Godinho, Civil Defense spokesperson in the Minas Gerais state where the accident happened, said 42 bodies have now been identified after five days of an intense search operation through the mud.

Just over 300 people were still missing, with the list of those unaccounted for being constantly updated, Godinho said. Most of the missing are presumed dead, officials said.

The cause of the dam burst remained unclear. Recent inspections did not indicate any problems, according to the German firm that conducted the inspection.

Avimar de Melo Barcelos, the mayor of Brumadinho, blasted Vale for being “careless and incompetent,” and blamed the mining company for the tragedy and the state of Minas Gerais for poor oversight. He vowed to fine the miner 100 million reais.

Vale Chief Executive Officer Fabio Schvartsman said in a television interview on Sunday the disaster happened even after the company followed experts’ safety recommendations.

“I’m not a mining technician. I followed the technicians’ advice and you see what happened. It didn’t work,” Schvartsman said. “We are 100 percent within all the standards, and that didn’t do it.”

The CEO promised “to go above and beyond any national or international standards. … We will create a cushion of safety far superior to what we have today to guarantee this never happens again.”

Vale’s board of directors suspended its planned shareholder dividends, share buybacks and executive bonuses in light of the disaster, according to a securities filing on Sunday.

The board also created independent committees to investigate the causes of the dam burst and to monitor relief efforts.