Mariana dam disaster
The Mariana dam disaster, also known as the Bento Rodrigues or Samarco dam disaster, occurred on 5 November 2015, when the Fundão tailings dam at the Germano iron ore mine of the Samarco Mariana Mining Complex near Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil, 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 of watercourses.

The failure of the dam released 43.7 million cubic metres 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. The owner of the Bento Rodrigues dam, Samarco, was subject to extensive litigation and government sanctions. In 2016, charges of manslaughter and environmental damage were filed against 21 executives, including Samarco's former CEO and representatives from Samarco's owners, Vale and BHP Billiton, on its board of directors. Controversy over the investigation grew after a 2013 report, indicating structural issues in the dam, was leaked.
Q4496980
tailings dam
Concept
Q191552
iron ore
Concept
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Samarco
ORG
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Mariana, Minas Gerais
LOC
Q155
Brazil
LOC
Q5051574
catastrophic failure
Concept
Q25517
cubic metres
Concept
Q1757394
Doce River
LOC
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mouth
Concept
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Atlantic Ocean
LOC
Q617059
humanitarian crisis
Concept
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displaced
Concept
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water shortages
Concept
Q21452026
Samarco
ORG
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litigation
Concept
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sanctions
Concept
Q3882220
manslaughter
Concept
Q583268
Vale
ORG
Q625713
BHP Billiton
ORG
Q21402069
Mariana dam disaster
Concept
2015-11-05T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
5 November 2015
DATE
2016-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
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NUMBER
participant
country
point in time
number of deaths
participant
participant
country
significant event
country
mouth of the watercourse