Eleven dead, 296 missing in Brazil dam disaster

Eleven people were confirmed dead and nearly 300 missing, many also feared dead, on Saturday 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 out millions of muddy sludge across the facility and down towards farmland alongside the nearby town of Brumaldinho.

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

"We still have hopes of finding people alive," the head of the state's fire service, Colonel Edgard Estavao, told reporters.

The latest count listed 296 people as missing, all of them mine workers listed by Vale.

A total 176 survivors have been rescued so far, 23 of whom were hospitalised.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro flew over the devastated zone, but said nothing to reporters when he returned from the flight.

Instead, he tweeted that it was "difficult to not be emotional before this scene."
In Rio, Schvartsman spoke of a "human tragedy."
Walter Morais, a member of the Red Cross team sent to the disaster zone, told AFP that his relief group "will begin humanitarian actions helping people who were rescued and are homeless."
The Brazil office of environmentalist group Greenpeace said the dam break was "a sad consequence of the lessons not learned by the Brazilian government and the mining companies."