Rockfall in tourist lake kills at least six and leaves twenty

A tragedy mourned a very tourist site on Saturday in Brazil. The fall of a section of cliff on boats sailing on a lake in the state of Minas Gerais, in the south-east of the country, has left at least 6 dead and 20 missing, we learned from firefighters .

“At this stage, there are six confirmed deaths,” said in a final report the spokesman for the firefighters of Minas Gerais, Pedro Aihara. A little earlier, Colonel Edgard Estevo da Silva had mentioned 5 dead and 20 missing, in addition to 32 wounded.

Three boats affected

At midday, a large fragment of rock broke away from its wall and fell on three boats sailing on Furnas Lake, a site popular for its green waters and spectacular parade of rock walls. In gruesome footage shared on social media, the exact moment the rock mass detached and fell on the three boats could be seen, causing panic among passengers watching the scene on other boats.

On other recordings, just before the tragedy, we see people issuing warnings saying that “a lot of stones are falling” and calling on the occupants of the boats to move away from the wall. President Jair Bolsonaro has shared some of these videos on social networks, praising the work of the Brazilian Navy which, “as soon as the unfortunate disaster has occurred”, moved to the site and “is working to rescue the victims and to transport the wounded ”.

Recent heavy rains

Among the injured, nine were hospitalized, according to the firefighters who intervened on the spot with various equipment and a brigade of divers. The search was to stop at night for security reasons and resume this Sunday. The number of missing persons was estimated on the basis of “testimonies, tourist agencies and relatives,” said Colonel Estevo.

The intense rains that have fallen in recent days in southeastern Brazil have favored the accident, according to firefighters. The Capitolio region, 300 kilometers from the capital Belo Horizonte, attracts many tourists with its rock faces, its canyon and waterfalls encasing Lake Furnas formed by a hydroelectric reservoir of the same name.