Bento Rodrigues dam disaster
2015 CE.
Shown on the map at -20.232°, -43.418°.
The Mariana dam disaster was an environmental disaster near Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil. On 5 November 2015, the Fundão tailings dam at the Germano iron ore mine of the Samarco Mariana Mining Complex near Mariana, suffered a catastrophic failure, resulting in flooding that devastated the downstream villages of Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu de Baixo (40 km (25 mi) from Bento Rodrigues), killing 19 people. The extent of the damage caused by the tailings dam collapse is the largest ever recorded, with pollutants spread along 668 kilometres (415 mi) of watercourses. The failure of the dam released 43.7 million cubic metres (1.54 billion cubic feet) of mine tailings into the Doce River, causing a toxic brown mudflow to pollute the river and beaches near the mouth when it reached the Atlantic Ocean 17 days later. The disaster created a humanitarian crisis as hundreds were displaced and cities along the Doce River suffered water shortages when their water supplies were polluted. The total impact of the disaster, including the reason for failure and the environmental consequences, are officially under investigation and remain unclear.
Text from the Wikipedia article Mariana dam disaster, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.