Sao Paulo: Seven persons were killed and 32 injured after a huge cliff breaks off and falls on boat riders near a waterfall in Brazil on Saturday. Edgard Estevo, commander of the Minas Gerais State Fire Department, said that three people went missing. He said divers were searching the lake where the tragedy happened.
Officials said at least 32 people were injured, though most had been released from hospitals by Saturday evening.
“The bodies are not in the IML, they are in a command post that was provisionally set up in a nautical club in the region. 23 victims were treated and released at Santa Casa de Capitólio. "Four victims were treated and released at Santa Casa in São José da Barra. There are two victims hospitalised in Pium-i with open fractures and two others are in Santa Casa de Passos in stable condition," Brazil's O TEMPO newspaper reported.
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URGENTE!!! Pedras se soltam de cânion em Capitólio, em Minas, e atingem três lanchas. pic.twitter.com/784wN6HbFy
— O Tempo (@otempo) January 8, 2022 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">URGENTE!!! Pedras se soltam de cânion em Capitólio, em Minas, e atingem três lanchas. pic.twitter.com/784wN6HbFy
— O Tempo (@otempo) January 8, 2022URGENTE!!! Pedras se soltam de cânion em Capitólio, em Minas, e atingem três lanchas. pic.twitter.com/784wN6HbFy
— O Tempo (@otempo) January 8, 2022
According to information from State Fire Department, four vessels were impacted at the time of the rock detachment, two of which suffered a direct impact. "Vessels named EDL, from which 14 people were rescued alive, and the vessel named Jesus, from which 10 people were rescued. The other two vessels suffered indirect impacts. A red speedboat, still unidentified, in which 10 victims were were rescued and another vessel named Nova Mãe, from which 8 people were rescued alive,” O TEMPO reported. The missing persons were on the boat named Jesus, which was directly hit by the rock that fell from the canyon.
Addressing the media General Commander of the corporation, Colonel Estevo, at least 40 firefighters are working on the incident, including a team of divers and the support of the Archangel helicopter. Of the three vessels hit, two sank. The two dead have not yet been identified.
Visuals showed a gathering of small boats moving slowly near the rock cliff on Furnas Lake when a fissure appeared in the rock and a huge piece toppled onto at least two of the vessels. Furnas Lake is a popular tourist draw in the area, roughly 420 kilometres north of Sao Paulo. Recent heavy rain may have caused the slab of rock to come loose and break away, according to initial reports.
(With inputs from agency)
