Death toll reaches 58 in Brazil dam collapse

- More than 300 people remain missing in Friday's mining waste dam collapse in country's southeast

The death toll from the collapsed tailings dam in Brazil mounted to 58, local media reported on Sunday.

According to Brazilian media reports, at least 305 others were reported missing following Friday's deadly incident that took place in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.

Search and rescue operations have resumed in the area after having been paused for concerns over a second collapse in another nearby dam, owned by the same company Vale SA.

'We will try to locate the survivors and reach them,' said Flavio Godinho, the spokesman of Minas Gerais Civil Defense Institution, quoted by the local media.

Additionally, 23 people are in the hospital, the local fire department said.

Following the mining waste dam break, authorities have evacuated some 3,000 people from the Brazilian town of Brumadinho.

According to the Brazilian authorities, the dam collapsed while the workers were having lunch, and the rescue teams could not reach the dining hall which was buried in the mud.

Another mining waste dam managed by Vale and Australia’s BHP Billiton broke in 2015, killing 19 and rendering hundreds homeless in the city of Mariana in Minas Gerais.

Reporting by Muhammed Emin Canik in Buenos Aires

Writing by Ali Murat Alhas

Anadolu Agency

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