Israel is preparing to dispatch a search and rescue mission to Brazil after a dam collapsed at an iron ore mine in the state of Minas Gerais on Friday, releasing a torrent of mining waste that slammed into the facilities of the Vale SA mining company and cut through a nearby community, leaving a roughly 150-meter (500-foot) wide wake of destruction stretching for miles.
At least 34 people have been confirmed killed. Some 250 people were still missing as of Sunday, according to the Minas Gerais fire department.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday and offered to send an Israeli team to help locate the missing. Bolsonaro thanked him and accepted the offer. The two leaders agreed that the Israeli team would leave within 24 hours.
The IDF Homefront Command announced Saturday that it was organizing the search and rescue mission.
Frantic family members of the missing crowded into a warehouse set up by Vale for those affected, next to a stretch of river erased by the sludge. More than a dozen helicopters helping to survey the area took off and landed from a soccer field nearby.
"Unfortunately, at this point, the chances of finding survivors are minimal. We're likely to just be recovering bodies," Romeu Zema, governor of Minas Gerais, told local media.
During a news conference, Zema said the mining complex had all its permits in order and it was unclear what caused the collapse of the dam, which had been inactive for years.
German auditor TUV SUD said on Saturday it had inspected the tailings dam last September and found it to be operating well.
Vale Chief Executive Fabio Schvartsman said there had not been any recent construction around the dam and apologized without taking responsibility in a television interview.
"Apologies to society, apologies to you, apologies to the whole world for what has happened," he said. "I don't know who is responsible, but you can be sure we'll do our part."
Some analysts saw the latest dam burst creating resistance to Bolsonaro's plans to ease restrictions on mining, making investors already wary of Brazil's mining sector even more hesitant.
Bolsonaro came to Minas Gerais and flew over the disaster area on Saturday morning, leaving town without attending a planned news conference. He dispatched three ministers to the scene who addressed reporters along with Zema.
