BRUMADINHO, Brazil, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Survivors of Brazil's latest mining disaster, which buried people and homes under a sea of toxic mud after a tailings dam burst, were rattled again over the weekend by the sound of an alarm warning of a possible second dam collapse.
Residents of Brumadinho, a town in southeast Minas Gerais state, are still struggling to come to terms with Friday's tragedy at Corrego do Feijao, an iron ore mine owned by mining giant Vale, which left 65 people dead and hundreds more missing.
But they were jolted awake before dawn on Sunday, when alarms went off at 5:30 a.m. (0830 GMT), warning the risk of a rupture at a second dam, which contains a million cubic meters of waste. Firefighters maintained the evacuation alert until the afternoon.
Some 3,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes on Sunday, deepening anxiety in the already devastated community.
As a result of the alert, access to the Corrego do Feijao complex, where rescue teams have set up their center of operations and volunteers attend to relatives of the missing, was closed off, leaving many locals wondering how to continue their own searches.
"I want to go to the family service center set up at Corrego do Feijao, because I haven't heard from my husband Jonis Andre Nunes since Friday, and I've heard that is where they are taking the bodies," said Aline Nunes.
Accompanied by her sister Elaine, Nunes complained about a lack of information, including the absence of a list of names of those who have been hospitalized or those who are missing.
Nunes said she no longer has any hope of finding her husband alive. Apart from her husband, Nunes and her sister have not heard from their sister-in-law's four children since the disaster struck as well.
This lack of news sparked protests throughout the day at another crisis management center set up at the local Asa University of Brumadinho, situated close to the epicenter of the tragedy, especially as the chances of finding survivors faded as the hours passed.
"My sister is hopeful of finding her daughter alive, but I know she won't be back. She worked at Vale's administrative office, one of the most affected," Luzia Paraguai said outside the university gates.
"Tomorrow, her son turns 11, and he is still hoping they will find his mother," she said.
The day's alert restricted vehicle access to parts of the town considered to be at high risk, in case of another dam collapse. But families desperate to find their loved ones are venturing there anyway, usually with the help of locals familiar with the neighborhoods.
In the neighborhood of Parque de la Cachoeira, a group of relatives and friends of the missing managed to slip through security barricades to reach the edge of the sea of mud that buried everything in its path.
Andre Felipe Oliveira Espindola was there with his wife and two friends.
"My sister is dead. Seeing this, I know there is no chance of finding her alive. How could they let this happen?" Espindola asked.
His sister worked in Vale's kitchen and must have been in the cafeteria when the dam collapsed at around lunch time. He has been looking for information, visiting hospitals and the morgue in Brumadinho ever since. But Sunday was the first time he had gotten so close to the devastation.
Some townspeople were more fortunate. Pedro de Araujo and his wife Isamara were out having lunch with their children when they heard a roaring sound.
"It sounded like 10 helicopters," said Pedro. The family ran to the highest point of the property, coming down until the roar had subsided.
When they returned home, they found the toxic mud had entered through the kitchen and flooded the couple's bedroom, destroying walls and furniture. In the patio, there were dead animals.
"I don't know if it will be possible to plant again," said Isamara.
By Sunday afternoon, firefighters called off the alarm and residents who had evacuated were allowed to return to their homes, but there was still little relief.
News spread that rescue workers had discovered a bus buried underneath the mud, the second bus in as many days, and like the first, all of the people inside were dead.
