Fading hopes for survivors of a deadly dam collapse in Brazil were further dashed on Sunday when rescue efforts were temporarily halted because of concerns that another dam operated by the same company was also at risk of rupturing.
As the search was paused authorities began evacuating several neighbourhoods in the south-eastern city of Brumadinho that were within range of the B6 dam owned by the Brazilian mining company Vale.
“Leave here, this is at risk,” police officials told firefighters. “Within a little while, more mud will fall.”
Flavio Godinho, a spokesman for the regional civil defence agency, later said that authorities were no longer concerned that the B6 dam was at risk of collapse, and that the evacuation of up to 24,000 people from Brumadinho had been called off.
At least 58 people have been confirmed killed and hundreds remain missing following Friday’s mudslide. Even before the latest setbacks, hope that people had survived the tsunami of iron ore mine waste from the dam collapse was turning to anguish that there would be no more survivors.
Just below a football field where military rescue helicopters were parked, a Vale building had been turned into a centre for people waiting for news of missing relatives. People waiting here were increasingly worried that family members might not be found and were critical of the lack of information the company had supplied.