Every January 25th, tributes and events are carried out in memory of the 272 victims who died in the collapse of the Vale dam, which failed in 2019 at Córrego do Feijão in Brumadinho.
This year, the events began early in the morning with religious celebrations, with the Mass at the Sanctuary of the Rosary.
At Praça das Joias, AVABRUM (Association of Families of Victims and Affected by the Breakdown of the Mina Córrego do Feijão-Brumadinho Dam) held a press conference to address legal issues in the case. Soon after, a series of tributes were paid by friends and family, the city choir and the Fire Department.
At 12:28 p.m., the exact time the dam broke, 272 helium balloons filled with sunflower seeds were released. The idea is that the scattered seeds will germinate and flourish throughout the city, representing each of the victims.
After the release of the balloons, each of the victims was called. Friends and family chanted the word “Present” after each name. On the city's sign, photos of each of the victims were displayed, as well as crosses with the names of everyone who died in the tragedy.
Three heart-shaped balloons bore the names of Tiago Tadeu Mendes da Silva, Nathália de Oliveira Porto Araújo and Maria de Lurdes da Costa Bueno. The three jewels, as the victims of the tragedy are called, who have not yet been located.
The search by the Minas Gerais Fire Department in Córrego do Feijão continues. The operation is considered the largest search and rescue activity in the country and has no end date. Since January 25, 2019, the operation has remained uninterrupted. It was partially paralyzed due to heavy rain and Covid-19, but the intelligence and logistics service remained active. On January 25, 2024, the operation completes 1826 days of searches.
“We don’t work with deadlines, we work with technical expertise fundamentals. We know that all material of interest that is found must be taken to an examination and as long as there is a technical possibility for this examination to bring a conclusive result, this justifies the continuation of the operation” stated Lieutenant Henrique Barcellos, CBMG Spokesperson.
The mining company Vale's B1 dam collapsed on January 25, 2019 in the Córrego do Feijão in Brumadinho, killing 272 (270 dead and two unborn children) and devastating kilometers of fauna and flora and contaminating the bed of the Paraopeba River basin, becoming a of the country's biggest environmental disasters. The collapse spread 10.5 million cubic meters of mud. The volume of waste is equivalent to more than 4,000 Olympic swimming pools.
On February 4, 2021, a Damage Compensation Agreement was signed for those affected by the breach. The document was signed by the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais Federal Public Ministry, Public Defender's Office of Minas Gerais, state government. Several socioeconomic, socio-environmental and compensatory initiatives have been developed since then, but to this day, five years later, no one has been punished for the crime.
“It was so fast, the volume of mud was so thick that there was no time to even shout for help. And today our voices 'is' their voice crying out for justice and for them to have mercy and not let this terrible tragedy that happened in Brumadinho happen in another city” says Anastácia do Carmo Silva, Cleiton's mother who died in the tragedy at 29 years.
Source: CNN Brasil
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