Eight Vale staff arrested and $19 billion wiped from share price after Brazil dam burst
17 February, 2019
Eight employees of Brazilian mining company Vale S.A. have been arrested over January’s deadly dam collapse.
Since the disaster on January 25, the company has also lost a quarter of its market value — nearly $19 billion.
The disaster claimed upwards of 84 lives, with 276 still unaccounted for.
According to prosecutors in the mining state of Minas Gerais, police are also carrying out 14 search warrants as part of the probe.
The arrests and search warrants targeted employees of Vale as well as employees of German auditing firm TUV SUD, which had certified the dam as stable.
The latest warrants come after five Vale and TUV SUD employees were arrested last month, but were released by a higher court ruling on February 5.
Vale confirmed the arrest warrants on Friday and said it was co-operating with the investigation.
Among those arrested was Vale’s Alexandre de Paula Campanha, who was involved in certifying the dam.
Also arrested was his colleague Helio Marcio Lopes da Cerqueira, who allegedly had email correspondence about faulty monitoring equipment at the mine.
The Vale employees arrested on Friday were responsible for the security and stability of the Brumadinho dam and will be held in jail for 30 days.
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