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Brazil mine mudslide engulfs houses, one dead

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A dam at a mining waste site burst Thursday, unleashing a deluge of thick red toxic mud that engulfed houses and killed at least one person, a union official said.

Five others were injured, said Ronaldo Bento, the union official.

Television footage showed a torrent of industrial muck several hundred meters (yards) long that had swamped houses and ripped off their roofs in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.

The news website G1, citing an anonymous source in a local mining union, reported earlier that 10 people were killed.

But the mining company Samarco, which operates the site, had yet to confirm whether there were any victims.

Samarco is jointly owned by two mining giants, Vale of Brazil and BHP Billiton of Australia.

The dam broke about 4:20pm (1820 GMT) between the old colonial towns of Ouro Preto and Mariana, in a major mining region of minerals and semi-precious stones, officials said.

"The Fundao dam of the Samarco mining company has given way," prompting a mudslide of mining waste that reached the nearby village of Bento Rodrigues, the town hall of Ouro Preto said in a statement.

It said ambulances had been sent to the scene but there are no confirmed victims for the moment.

Firefighters and other emergency teams rushed to the scene and local residents were ordered to evacuate.

Aerial images broadcast on the Globo television network showed a river of mud stretching for several hundred meters (yards) in a valley near the dam.

A dam at a mining waste site burst Thursday, unleashing a deluge of thick red toxic mud that engulfed houses and killed at least one person, a union official said.

Five others were injured, said Ronaldo Bento, the union official.

Television footage showed a torrent of industrial muck several hundred meters (yards) long that had swamped houses and ripped off their roofs in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.

The news website G1, citing an anonymous source in a local mining union, reported earlier that 10 people were killed.

But the mining company Samarco, which operates the site, had yet to confirm whether there were any victims.

Samarco is jointly owned by two mining giants, Vale of Brazil and BHP Billiton of Australia.

The dam broke about 4:20pm (1820 GMT) between the old colonial towns of Ouro Preto and Mariana, in a major mining region of minerals and semi-precious stones, officials said.

“The Fundao dam of the Samarco mining company has given way,” prompting a mudslide of mining waste that reached the nearby village of Bento Rodrigues, the town hall of Ouro Preto said in a statement.

It said ambulances had been sent to the scene but there are no confirmed victims for the moment.

Firefighters and other emergency teams rushed to the scene and local residents were ordered to evacuate.

Aerial images broadcast on the Globo television network showed a river of mud stretching for several hundred meters (yards) in a valley near the dam.

AFP
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With 2,400 staff representing 100 different nationalities, AFP covers the world as a leading global news agency. AFP provides fast, comprehensive and verified coverage of the issues affecting our daily lives.

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