Brasília: A fall down of an empty dam at an iron-ore mine complex in southeast Brazil killed at least seven people and left 150 missing, officials said, as they sought to assess the full scope of the disaster. The tailings dam, owned by Brazilian mining giant Vale, broke apart "very aggressively, very rapidly," sending a massive flood of mud over the complex where hundreds of employees were working, Vale CEO Fabio Schvartsman informed in news conference in Rio de Janeiro.

The flood roared on to the nearby town of Brumadinho, located southwest of the city of Belo Horizonte, cutting a swath through vegetation, farmland and roads, and impeding access to the area. The death toll was expected to rise, as rescue teams scoured through the disaster zone overnight into Saturday. Dozens of helicopters were being used.

While Brazil's new government led by President Jair Bolsonaro reacted to its first big emergency since taking office early this month by launching disaster coordination between the defense, mining and environment ministries and authorities in the affected state of Minas Gerais.

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Bolsonaro and his defense minister were to fly over the zone on Saturday. His environment minister raced to the area late Friday. An AFP photographer viewing the zone from the air described tractors, houses and a bridge submerged in mud, and emergency crews using earth-moving machinery to search for survivors. Television images earlier showed helicopters being used to rescue people stuck in mud.

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