Engineers who certified the safety of the damaged mining dam in Brumadinho are arrested

RIO DE JANEIRO.- During their stay in Brumadinho, the rescue teams continued their efforts to search for

rupture of the embankment

Last Friday, Brazilian justice ordered the arrest of five engineers who certified the safety of the dam damaged, which has
He has already left 65 confirmed dead, 279 missing and 135 homeless in the state of Minas Gerais.

Researchers from the Minas Gerais Public Ministry believe that the technical documents prepared by the companies hired by the Vale mining company were tainted with irregularities and that they suspected that there had been certification fraud. The last inspection of containment dams at the Córrego mine in Feijão, 10 kilometers from Brumadinho, took place at the beginning of December.

Federal police officers made three arrests in Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais, and two in San Pablo, in addition to several raids on offices. These are temporary prison orders, with a maximum duration of 30 days. The selected engineers belong to the German company TÜV-Süd-d'audit external specialized in the inspection of this type of mining dams-, as well as Vale's technicians responsible for the works and their environmental license.

In a statement issued after the operation, Vale is limited to saying that he was collaborating in the investigations and was providing his "unconditional support" to the relatives of the victims of the tragedy that devastated the region.

In the midst of the desperation of the families lost in the accident and the growing indignation of the inhabitants of the Brumadinho region, where most of the mine workers were, the Brazilian authorities have already imposed fines on Vale. US $ 92 million and various blockages of funds amounting to US $ 3 billion, intended to deal with environmental damage and the eventual compensation of victims.

The company – one of the largest mining companies in the world – is also facing a clbad action lawsuit in the United States. Investors in New York, whose Brazilian company also quotes shares, have accused Vale, its chairman Fabio Schvartsman and its financial director, Luciano Siani, of lying in their commitment to ensure the safety of their workers. Since the accident, the company's shares have lost more than 20% of their value.

Follow the search

Meanwhile, on the ground, the rescuers resumed this morning the search tasks between the mud and the debris left by the collapse of the dam. More than 300 Civil Defense personnel and firefighters participated in these tasks. 136 Israeli soldiers arrived yesterday with ultramodern equipment to locate the buried persons.

Efforts will focus today in an area where chairs and tables were found yesterday next to several bodies, which is why it is thought they would be the rest of the cafeteria of the administrative center of the mining complex, moved by the avalanche about 800 meters from the place where erected. If this is the case, it is estimated that today, the number of bodies found could increase significantly, as the dam broke during the lunch break when the site was filled with Vale employees.