(Rio de Janeiro) The fall of a section of cliff on boats sailing in a very touristy lake in the state of Minas Gerais, in southeastern Brazil, left at least seven dead and three missing on Saturday, a we learned from the firefighters.
“At this stage, there are seven dead and three missing,” said in a final report the spokesman of the firefighters of Minas Gerais, Pedro Aihara.
The previous report reported six dead and 20 missing, in addition to 32 injured. The number of missing people was initially estimated on the basis of testimonies, tourism agencies and relatives, said firefighters.
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 dramatic 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 shared some of these videos on social media, praising the work of the Brazilian Navy which, “as soon as the unfortunate disaster occurred”, came to the site and worked to ” rescue the victims and transport the wounded ”.
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 the next day.
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, canyon and waterfalls encasing Lake Furnas formed by a hydroelectric reservoir of the same name.