27 January

Brazilian authorities say 34 people have been confirmed dead and more than 300 others remain missing after Friday's collapse of a mining dam in a southeastern region.

As many as 200 rescue workers are continuing their search for survivors in the town of Brumadinho in Minas Gerais State. But the operation is being hampered as muddy water continues gushing out of the dam, burying almost all the houses in the vicinity.

Those who remain unaccounted for include dam workers and people who lived downstream. The dam was constructed by Brazilian mining giant Vale SA. Another dam in the same state, also built by Vale, collapsed in 2015, killing 19 people.

The Brazilian government says Vale is responsible for the latest disaster and that it has frozen about 1.6 billion dollars in the firm's bank accounts to help residents.—NHK