MARIANA, Brazil — Rescuers on Friday spirited survivors out of a mountainous area of southeastern Brazil that was flooded with a sea of viscous, red mud after two dams burst at an iron ore mine.
Officials said two people were killed, four were injured and 13 were missing.
The rupture unleashed a mix of water and mining residue on a village 4 miles downhill, smothering the enclave of Bento Rodrigues. Only about 10 of the approximately 200 houses in the village were left standing, and cars and other objects were tossed by what survivors described as an eruption of mud.
Residents said no alarms sounded to warn them about the dam break Thursday afternoon, but they scrambled for higher ground after hearing a deafening burst. Officials have not said what caused the breach.
Guilherme de Sa Meneghin of the state prosecutor’s office and Minas Gerais state Gov. Fernando Pimentel said two people died, although the state fire department had confirmed only one death so far. The department said four people were injured and another 13 missing, although it warned that the latter figure could rise. About 100 of the nearly 600 people thought to live in the area have not been accounted for.
