Brazil’s Brumadinho tragedy trial began in Germany

A trial began today in Munich that relatives of the Brumadinho tragedy, the dam that gave way in 2019 in that Brazilian city and caused the death of 272 people, initiated against the German company Tüv Süd, which four months earlier had certified that the dam was in perfect condition.

On January 25, 2019, a dam with wastewater from the Córrego de Feijão mine, owned by the mining company Vale S.A., collapsed and spilled thousands of cubic meters of water and eventually toxic mud over the region of Brumadinho, in the state of Minas Gerais.

In September 2018, the firm Tüv Süd issued a Declaration of Stability for the dam. Still, investigations by the prosecutor’s office, the police, and three Brazilian parliamentary commissions revealed that the certification issued by Tüv Süd did not consider safety criteria.

In addition, the authorities discovered that the mining company Vale, owner of the mine where the accident occurred, dismissed two certification companies that had refused to sign a Declaration of Stability for the dam.

Two members of Avabrum, the association that gathers the relatives of the victims of the tragedy, Alexandra Andrade and Maria Regina da Silva, will attend the proceedings against the German company in Munich.

Today was the first hearing of the process for compensation in favor of 183 plaintiffs, including survivors and victims’ relatives.

Andrade, president of the association and who lost a brother and a cousin who worked at the site, said that “the company Vale and its consultant Tüv Süd had been warned of the risks, but they put profit above all else”.

For her, the chaos in the city, the loss of loved ones, and the environmental destruction have generated deep mourning in the community.

“Everyone knows someone who died in the dam breach. Brumadinho, those who survived, those affected, and the families of the victims deserve true justice,” concluded Alexandra Andrade.

With information from ANSA

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