The area where a rock wall broke off a cliff and fell on several tourist boats
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:
At least five people were killed and 20 others were missing when a cliff collapsed on boaters in a lake in Brazil, authorities said on Saturday.
“So far there are five confirmed deaths” and “the current estimate is 20 missing people”, in addition to 32 injured, Colonel Edgard Estevo da Silva, commander of the Minas Gerais firefighters, told a news conference.
Saturday at noon local time, a large rock fragment broke free from a ravine and crashed into three boats during weekend trips to Furnas Lake, a tourist area in the Capitolio region.
Tourists flock to see the rock walls, caves, and waterfalls that surround the green waters of Lake Furnas, formed by the hydroelectric dam of the same name.
In dramatic videos shared on social networks, you can see the exact moment when the cliff falls on the three boats, to the panic of the passengers who witness the scene from the other boats.
Another video post on social media shows the minute before the fall, in which several people warned that “many rocks are falling” and yelled at the occupants of the other boats to move away from the wall.
At least 32 people were injured, nine of whom had to be hospitalized, said firefighters, who worked on the scene with several rescue teams, including divers.
Searches are paused at night for security reasons and resumed in the morning. The number of missing persons was estimated based on “information from witnesses, tourist offices and relatives,” Estevo said.
According to firefighters, very heavy rain has fallen in southeastern Brazil in recent days, raising the risk of a collapse.
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