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Over 250,000 people and countless animal species that depend on the river were suddenly without their most basic source of life. The flood of toxic mud continued along 663 kilometres of the Rio Doce river system to the Atlantic Ocean, poisoning the land and untouched forests along its path. The flood of mine waste killed 19 people, including workers and contractors at the mine, elderly people, and children of families living close by who were unable to escape. The town of Paracatu de Baixo and other neighbouring villages were also decimated. The wave completely buried Bento Rodrigues. On November 5, 2015, the Samarco mine tailings dam broke, unleashing a toxic brown avalanche of mine waste. The village was located beside Samarco’s iron ore mine, the largest mine in the region and the second-largest in the world, jointly owned by Anglo-Australian multinational mining giant BHP Billiton and Brazil’s largest mining company, Vale SA. Miguel then guides us along the Estrada Real just outside Mariana to the remains of the village of Bento Rodrigues. Miguel explains to us that slaves were forced to work gruelling hours in the mines, and then walk – and often die – on the seven-month journey along the Estrada Real (Royal Road) to the ports of Paraty and Rio de Janeiro with the mineral cargoes on their backs.
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Hauntingly, in the central square of Mariana stands a replica of the old pelourinho – a monument where imprisoned runaway slaves were chained and whipped to death in the name of the Portuguese Crown, progress, and order. For centuries the region was at the heart of a slave-driven mining economy, and it continues to be one of the major centres of Brazilian mining. We meet our guide, Miguel, at the central square in Mariana, the old colonial capital of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. By Sasha Hanson Pastran and Pedro Bigolin Neto 7 min read Share