Nearly 250 people are still missing after the dam broke on an iron ore mine in Brazil. But because the risk of a second dam failure at the mine in the state of Minas Gerais is too great, the forces have stopped their search for buried people for the time being. "I'm waiting for us to be able to resume the search," said Fabrício Oliveira of the Voluntary Firefighters' Association to the news portal G1 on Sunday.

The mining company Vale set off an alarm on this Sunday morning after measurements indicated an increase in water level at another dam in the facility. The fire department evacuated then several places in the region. Affected are about 24,000 people, they are all brought to safety, said the fire brigade.

According to information from the army, a thousand soldiers and detection dogs were sent to the area of ​​misfortune. Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro also announced assistance from Israel. According to the fire department, these are 130 Israeli soldiers and a special technology for locating people in great depth, which will be used from Monday.

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Dam failure: devastating mudslide in Brazil

Already on Friday, another dam of the mine was broken and had triggered a mudslide. At least 37 people were killed in the accident, 192 people were rescued alive and 23 were injured in the hospital. Most of the victims should be miners. However, given the current situation, the number of fatalities is likely to rise even further.

According to the company, a total of around 12 million cubic meters of sludge spilled over the plant and the nearby settlements near the town of Brumadinho. How exactly it came to the accident is still unclear, said Vale President Fábio Schvartsman. According to the AFP news agency, the dam, built in 1976, was only examined by experts from TÜV Süd in September. According to current knowledge, no deficiencies were found. According to Vale President Schvartsman, an inspection on 10 January also revealed no damage.

Justice freezes billions of mine operators

Brazil's judiciary, however, blocked a total of three billion dollars (2.6 billion euros) in the accounts of the mining operator Vale. The prosecutor in Minas Gerais said on Sunday that she had secured an additional five billion real (1.2 billion euros) on Saturday night. Previously, the authorities had frozen the equivalent of over a billion euros for compensation payments to victims. In addition, on Saturday a first penalty of $ 66.5 million (58.5 million euros) was imposed.

Video: Deadly balance of a disaster

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About three years ago, a similar disaster had already occurred at another mine operated by Vale. At that time 19 people were killed, a mudslide covered more than 650 kilometers and caused the biggest environmental catastrophe in Brazilian history.