BHP, Vale agree to pay $30bn damages for Brazil dam disaster

Mining giants BHP and Vale on Friday signed a deal with Brazil's government to pay nearly $30 billion in damages for a 2015 dam collapse that triggered the country's worst environmental disaster. President Lula da Silva attended the signing of the deal over the November 5, 2015 collapse of a tailings dam at a mine in the southeastern town of Mariana, which triggered a giant mudslide.

The river of mud swamped villages, rivers and rainforest, killing 19 people on its way to the sea. More than 620,000 complainants, including 46 Brazilian municipalities and several Indigenous communities, are seeking an estimated $47 million in damages in the civil trial. The company said Friday that the agreement reached in Brasilia did not end the lawsuits pending against the companies, nor prevent others being taken.