The partial collapse in Brazil yesterday afternoon of the ’14 de Julho’ dam, located between the towns of Cotiporã and Bento Gonçalves, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, due to heavy rains, caused the death of at least 29 people, while 60 more are missing.
The information, reports the Uol news portal, was confirmed by the government of Rio Grande do Sul, while the mayor of the town of Bento Gonçalves, Diogo Segabinazzi Siqueira, announced that the intense rainfall had generated a wave two meters high which hit the area, crossing the community of Linha Alcântara, and advancing towards the municipalities of São Valentim do Sul and Santa Tereza.
For his part, Artur Lemos, Interior Minister of this state, declared to CNN that “it was the right side of the dam that collapsed, where the locks are not located”.
The objective of the technicians who are on site, he finally said, “is to be able to open the locks, reducing the pressure on the dam”, because “if we fail and the structure collapses completely, then we will have to deal with a much greater quantity of water “.
Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA
