After the dam burst

After the dam burst

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When a dam burst at a Samarco mine in the mineral-rich state of Minas Gerais the mud and floodwater that came rushing through the village of Mariana killed at least eight people.

Over a week later more then 20 people are still listed as missing and hundreds remain displaced, their homes destroyed in the tide of mud. Recovery crews are slogging through nearly 100 km of mud-caked floodplain in a search for more victims.

. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

It is a disaster that came two years after a study requested by a prosecutor warned dams in the state could collapse.

The lack of a warning siren or an emergency plan for evacuating villages near the dams is a constant complaint of those hit by the floods and something prosecutors say they will pursue.

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. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Santa Cruz Do Escalvado, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Barra Longa, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Barra Longa, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Barra Longa, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Barra Longa, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

The first Eliene Almeida, head teacher at the municipal school in Bento Rodrigues, knew of the deadly mud flow that destroyed her village was a cry from her husband.

Most villagers were running for higher ground, but no one inside the packed school was aware that a 20 meter high wall of mud and water was approaching.

. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

Almeida's husband raced to the school and sounded the warning.

"He came in shouting that we had to run," Almeida, 31, said at a hotel housing the village's survivors.

Frantically, she rounded up the children, aged mainly between 11 and 16. "Within three minutes everyone was out." Almeida's 58 students all survived.

She cradled her 18-month-year old son as she recalled the evacuation.

Her toddler's foot was in a cast after taking a fall in the hotel. "He's getting used to his new home," she said, managing half a smile.

. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

There is little left to see of the school that was a pride of the village of 600 people. Only the roofs are visible, the rest submerged in thick sludge of water and iron ore waste from the dam.

Almeida hopes to open a new school and says it is important children resume their lessons. The local government appears supportive but, she says, things will never be quite the same.

"You can build a new school, but all the work that went into that school in Bento, what it meant to the village, that's gone forever."

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. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes
. Mariana, Brazil. Reuters/Ricardo Moraes