A project in memory of the 272 victims of the biggest work-related tragedy in Brazil’s history Mother’s Day marked the launch of ‘Brumadinho Legacy’
Brumadinho, Brazil – 07/05/2022 | Mother’s day eve was the date selected to officially launch the Brumadinho Legacy Project*. The occasion was marked by two special events that took place in Brumadinho, the city where the biggest work-related tragedy in the history of Brazil happened, in January of 2019.
In the morning, there was a seminar entitled “Networks of Hope and Indignation”. The conference summoned important names to debate the causes and consequences of the fateful day when the dam of Vale’s Córrego do Feijão Mine collapsed, spilling 12.7 million cubic meters of iron ore tailings, killing 272 people, most of them workers of the mine, and polluting the waters of Paraopeba River with heavy metals. One of Brazil’s most respected ambientalist, the former senator Marina Silva was present. She pointed out the lack of ethics towards human lives as well as the environment, which was made clear by Brazilian Federal Police investigation results that lead to a probable falsification of a stability report of the dam, just a few months before its collapse.
Later that night, Brumadinho experienced something they haven’t had in a long time: a touching concert featuring the famous Brazilian musician Marcus Viana, and guest artists, including a madrigal choir, and local singers. The event was permeated by powerful speeches, as the one of Andresa Rodrigues, a mother who lost her only son Bruno Rodrigues in the tragedy, who reminded everyone present the importance of honoring the lives of the 272 “jewels” that were lost because of a company’s negligence.
Legacy of Brumadinho is a project in memory of 272 victims of the biggest humanitarian tragedy of Brazil – a work related tragedy – in an attempt to establish a new mindset in society concerning the importance of health and safety at work policies. The project launches a broad program of actions including training, communication, publicity and news spreading so that tragedies like these won’t get lost in the shuffle of the global agenda. Our motto is: Today, you can save lives. Tomorrow, it might be too late.
*Project carried out with resources allocated by the Management Committee for Collective Moral Damage paid as social compensation for the rupture of the dam in Brumadinho on 01/25/2019, which took away 272 lives.
