Brazilian judge orders five arrests over dam collapse tragedy

Search efforts are continuing for survivors and for more victims.

Brazilian authorities have issued arrest warrants for five people in connection with a dam collapse that killed at least 65 people and left nearly 300 missing as it plastered part of a small city with reddish-brown mud and iron ore mining waste.

The orders were issued in Sao Paulo and in the state of Minas Gerais, where the collapse happened last Friday.

Rescue workers look for victims in the mud (Andre Penner/AP)

Three of the warrants were for people who worked for Vale SA, the mining company that owned and operated the waste dam that collapsed, according to the company.

In a statement, Vale said it was cooperating with authorities in the investigation.

A German company that has inspected the dam said two of its employees had been arrested.

Friends and relatives attend the burial of Vale SA employee Edgar Carvalho Santos (Andre Penner/AP)

In ordering the arrests, Minas Gerais judge Perla Saliba Brito wrote that the disaster could have been avoided.

It is not believable that “dams of such magnitude, run by one of the largest mining companies in the world, would break suddenly without any indication of vulnerability”, the judge wrote in the decision, according to news portal UOL.

The dam was part of an iron ore production complex.

A firefighter drinks water as he works on a site where a body was found (Leo Correa/AP)

Meanwhile, Colonel Evandro Borges from the military police told reporters that the official death toll was 65, though more bodies had been recovered Tuesday and that an updated death toll would be provided later in the day.

He said 288 remained missing, most of them Vale employees.

Many employees were eating lunch last Friday when the dam collapsed, burying a cafeteria and other company buildings.- Press Association

Brazilian authorities seek five arrests over collapse of dam

Brazilian authorities have issued arrest warrants for five people in connection with a dam collapse that killed at least 65 people as it plastered part of a city with reddish-brown mud and mining waste.

Police issued the orders in Sao Paulo and in the state of Minas Gerais, where the collapse happened.

They came as rescue crews worked for the fifth day to search for survivors or bodies.

Local media reported the warrants were for employees of Vale, the mining company that owned and operated the waste dam that collapsed.

In a statement, Vale said it was working with authorities.

However, a spokeswoman could not immediately confirm that those being sought worked for the company.