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 The water from a broken dam holding waste water from the nearby
Samarco mine in Minas Gerais state moved fast down the valley. A
flood believed to be some 20 meters (65 feet) high swept through the
village of 600, destroying homes and livelihoods within minutes.
Apart from a few houses spared by being on higher ground, homes are
little more than bare walls now. A thick sludge of water and iron
ore tore off the roofs and settled over the village like hardening
wax, leaving twisted cars perched awkwardly in its wake. Helicopters
buzzed overhead, searching for the lost 24 hours after the deluge.
One person has been confirmed dead, 13 are reported missing and many
more remain unaccounted for after two tailings dams burst on
Thursday at the Samarco mine owned by two of the world's largest
miners, Vale SA <VALE5.SA> and BHP Billiton <BLT.L>.
 A school in the line of the advancing water was hastily evacuated by
teachers, an act which is thought to have saved dozens of lives.
"There are heroes in this tragedy," the local mayor Duarte Júnior
said in acknowledgement of their actions.
Six villages were hit by the flood as 60 million cubic meters of
waste water swamped the region. Residents were evacuated to a
gymnasium in the nearby town of Mariana, where hundreds of
mattresses lined the floor and medical staff bustled in white coats
attending to the injured. Donations of water, clothes and blankets
poured in from well-wishers with many taking the day off work to
help those who have lost everything.
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"There's nothing left in my village. Just memories," Soraia Souza,
24, from the village of Paracatu de Baixo, told Reuters while
holding an 18-month-old baby wearing just a diaper.
At the site of the worst devastation, twenty rescue workers sweated
in the humid Brazilian heat, trying to rescue a horse trapped in the
thick, heavy mud. With a rope wrapped around it, twenty men and
women tugged to exhaustion, but the animal wouldn’t budge. As dusk
turned to dark, hopes the horse could be saved wavered.
"We've tried everything, there's nothing more we can do," said
Maximiliano Inacio, a local firefighter.
(Editing by Mary Milliken)
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