25. January is the dam of a tailings pond by the Brazilian mining group Vale; broke killed 270 people. Six months later, the fire Department is still searching for Victims. The cause of the disaster is still unclear.
At the command post Bravo, investigators are waiting for the arrival of newly discovered human Remains. From here, the search for the buried Victims of the dam collapse of Brumadinho is coordinated. Six months ago, on 25. January, was full of cracks in the dam of a tailings pond for mining waste. The spilled sludge covered a huge area, the 135 firefighters work at strategic points. In the case of the Fund, it may be the Remains of one of the 22 still missing victims.
Six months after the disaster in the Mine Córrego do Feijão, one expects victims with 270 deaths. In the forensic medical Institute of Belo Horizonte, the capital of the Federal state of Minas Gerais, wait more than 100 body parts were recovered from the up to 25-Meter-deep layer of sludge on the analysis.
Eliane, the sister of the engineer, Josiane Melo, who worked for the mining company Vale, has found 68 days after the disaster. The victim was five months pregnant and worked Recently on the recommendation of Josiane is also working as an engineer for Vale.
She wants justice: Josiane Melo, who lost her sister Eliane in disaster
Josiane, as Josi known, worked in the control centre of the dam and was on the day of the disaster in the holiday. Her brother, also in the case of Vale employee, was able to save himself, he changed his usual Route because of a job. Came from his superiors, which has not survived. “The Executive knew of the risk, you would have to get out there. Did you know that the people would only have a Minute to escape, and that therefore nobody would manage to survive,” laments of the relatives of a victim who has worked at Vale. The man wants to stay on the DW anonymously.
Josi says that she has declined since the tragedy ten pounds. Currently, she is exempt from working at Vale. She lost 135 friends in the disaster and your whole Team. “I fight for justice. I want the people responsible to be punished, that Vale will receive an exemplary punishment.”
Compensation for the bereaved
In April, the judicial authorities concluded an agreement with Vale, in order to accelerate the payout of severance pay for the Affected. For this they received criticism, because the agreement was without the participation of the victim is established.
Limitation of damages: The settling tank was sealed after the disaster
“Brazil is the only country in which a company commits a crime, the damage at the scene is present and the amount of compensation determined,” explains Camila Oliveira, lawyer of the social movement “Movimento Águas e Serra de Casa Branca”; she comes from a rural District of Brumadinho, near the broken dam.
So far, have been closed in 173 cases, 87 of the agreements. Including local residents who have lost their homes, or equipment, or commercial losses suffered are.
Video of the catastrophe: surveillance cameras show the Moment the Dam bursts
After an Agreement is officially confirmed, will pay Vale the compensation within five days. Some of this compensation exceed the equivalent of a quarter of a million Euro. Another agreement stipulates to pay for a year, a monthly minimum wage of about 250 euros to the nearly 40,000 residents Brumadinhos.
An Ongoing Investigation
This month, Vale was sentenced for the first Time by a court in the state of Minas Gerais to make amends. The sum to be paid has not yet been determined.
The investigations of the causes of the dam collapse are confidential, the investigators have not commented so far. The judiciary has suspended a portion of the operating permit; it is based on an opinion of TÜV Süd in Brazil, which had confirmed the operational safety of the dam. Vale claims to be particularly interested in the elucidation of the circumstances, and is cooperating, according to their own statements with the investigations.
Memorial at the entrance of Brumadinho
Josi, who has been working for 14 years for Vale, told they felt safe at their workplace. “I’ve lost everything. The company had the Motto: ‘life in the first place’. Now it seems that it has chosen to Kill,” she says.
Six months after the day of the tragedy, members take part in a Gedenkakt for the victims. The ceremony took place in front of a Flower bed at the entrance to the city, where rescue helper objects in front of the giant letters that adorn the traffic circle, left.