Brazil Dam Burst: Two More Expected to Collapse?

Samarco, the Brazilian mining company said that said that the two dams that the company uses to hold waste water from iron production are also damaged are in danger of collapsing, as well.

Just earlier this month, one of Samarco's water reservoirs had collapsed, which destroyed several homes in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.

BBC News reported that eleven people were killed during the tragic incident, while twelve others are still missing. Those missing people are now presumed dead.

The company also reported that emergency work will try to avoid another breach and will reach a period of 90 days. The Brazilian mining company had earlier reported that two of its dams -- Fundao and Germano collapsed on November 5.

The company later clarified that only the Fundao reservoir collapsed. While Germano and another nearby dam, Santarem, are still standing, Samarco's Infrastructure Director Kleber Terra said that they are at risk of collapsing.

The Brazilian mining company is jointly owned by mining moguls Vale, from Brazil, and Anglo-Australian company BHP Billiton. The company had agreed to pay Brazil the sum of 1bn reais (£170m; $260m) compensation.

The money will reportedly be used to cover costs of the initial cleanup and will also be used to offer a form of compensation for the victims and their families, most of which earn their living from the mines.

According to Financial Review, there was a separate report that was issued on Tuesday by local publication Estado de Sao Paulo that a lawmaker said that the mining accident caused an estimated $3.7 billion in damages. That estimate was based on assessments made by parliamentary technical experts.

To date, this has been called the worst mining accident in Brazil's history. As of now, biologists are trying to save fish from the Brazilian rivers that have been contaminated due to the mining accident. The Brazilian mining company is taking action to help repair the damage by providing six 1,000-liter tanks to act as a temporary container for the fish removed from Doce river. The company also provided two trucks to transport them to surrounding lakes. 

Samarco said that they are also helping locals to dig wells along the river, which is the main water source thousands of residents. Additionally, water utilities in towns and cities in Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo have stopped siphoning water from the water source as the toxic waste has already surged upstream, which has devastated many forms of marine life.