March 28, 2019 - 9:36 AM
RIO DE JANEIRO - Brazilian mining giant Vale says a total of four of its dams could collapse at any moment.
On Wednesday night, the company raised the risk level at three of its mining dams to the highest grade, which means that "a rupture is imminent or already happening."
It took similar measures on Saturday for one of its waste dams in the city of Barao de Cocais.
The company said in a statement that it sounded alarms in rural areas where the state cannot guarantee a timely rescue. But evacuation orders were already issued in those same places in February after another Vale-operated dam in the city of Brumadinho collapsed.
That tragedy unleashed a wave of toxic mud that contaminated rivers and almost certainly killed about 300 people.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019