Collapsed dam kills 37, 300 missing

Thirty-four people were confirmed dead and nearly 300 missing Saturday, with hopes fading of them being found alive, after a dam collapsed at a mine in southeast Brazil.

The disaster struck Friday at the Vale mine near the city of Belo Horizonte in Minas Gerais state, spewing millions of tons of muddy sludge across the facility and down towards farmland alongside the nearby town of Brumadinho.

Dozens of helicopters were used in the rescue operation Saturday because the released mud engulfed buildings, vehicles and roads with a deep, treacherous layer.

Rescue officials announced the death toll had more than tripled through the day as more and more bodies were pulled from the mud.

By the last count, nearly 300 people were missing, virtually all of them mine workers listed by Vale.

Among the more than 170 survivors rescued, 23 were hospitalized with injuries.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro flew over the devastated zone, later tweeting that it was “difficult to not be emotional before this scene.”

All was being done to care for survivors and “determine the facts, to demand justice and prevent new tragedies,” he added.

The military said it was deploying 1,000 troops, including sniffer dogs, to the affected zone under orders from the president.

The disaster was the first big emergency faced by Bolsonaro and his government since he took office in early January, and perhaps one of the biggest disasters in Brazil’s history.