RIO DE JANEIRO, July 16 (NNN-Xinhua) — Brazilian mining giant Vale signed an agreement with a local labor court to pay compensation to the families of the victims in a dam collapse in January, which caused the deaths of about 250 people.
The company agreed to pay 700,000 reals (186,666 U.S. dollars) to each of the parents, children and spouses of the victims — 500,000 reals for moral damages and 200,000 reals for insurance. Each of the victims’ siblings will receive 150,000 reals.
Besides, the victims’ dependents will receive medical insurance until they turn 25 years old, and a monthly pension until they turn 75. The parents will also receive medical and psychological assistance.
On Jan. 25, the disaster occured in Brumadinho in the southeastern Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, when a tailings dam owned by Vale released a mudflow that advanced through the mine’s offices, along with houses, farms, inns and roads downstream.
So far, the death toll in the dam collapse has reached 248, while another still 22 people remain missing. — NNN-XINHUA
