Brazil Mining Giant Vale to Pay $107 Million to Compensate Workers for Dam Disaster
By Reuters
- RIO DE JANEIRO — The giant Brazilian mining company Vale said on Monday it would pay 400 million reais, or about $107 million, to compensate workers affected by the deadly rupture of a dam in January that killed at least 247 people.
The announcement follows a ruling by a state court judge last week that the company was financially liable for the disaster, in which a huge wave of toxic waste breached the dam and inundated the town of Brumadinho, in Minas Gerais State, on Jan. 25.
In a statement, Vale said the deal also involves individual compensation for “moral and material damages,” including job stability and other benefits for a certain period of time.
In May, the company said it was taking $2.42 billion in writedowns for payments to victims’ families and estimated out-of-court settlements for various damages related to the dam collapse, including $247 million for a “framework agreement” with labor prosecutors.