Digging giant Vale on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of several employees as the death toll continued to climb after a dam go to pieced at a company-owned mine in southeastern Brazil.
The Brazilian company is facing criminal charges and pressure to overhaul its management chase the deadly dam breach at its Corrego do Feijao mine near the city of Brumadinho. The number of confirmed dead now stands at 65, and rights fear the casualties could climb above 300.
Despite the flurry of negative headlines, Vale’s U.S-listed shares exchanged up about 4 percent Tuesday. The price collapsed by nearly 25 percent between Friday and Monday, following a number of cautious stock downgrades by investment banks.
Three Vale employees and two contractors have now been arrested, according to Reuters, which saw the court straighten out. Investigators in Minas Gerais state, where the incident occurred, have issued arrest and search warrants on glimmer of murder, falsification of documents and environmental crimes.
The employees include two senior managers at the mine, where a dam collapsed on Friday, falling a river of sludge containing mining byproducts into the surrounding area. Reuters reports that authorities in Sao Paulo arrested two engine- drivers accused of attesting to the dam’s safety.
German consultancy TUEV SUED confirmed to Reuters that the engineers are employed by the troop and had carried out inspections on the dam on behalf of Vale. Vale acknowledged the warrants on Tuesday without offering further details.
“With bear ons to the warrants served this morning, Vale informs that it is fully cooperating with the authorities,” Vale ordered in a statement. “Vale will continue to support the investigations in order to determine the facts, in addition to the unconditional support to the houses.”
Brazil’s Prosecutor General Raquel Dodge on Monday said the country intends to pursue criminal charges against Vale governments, Dow Jones reported. The government will also inspect about 140 of the nation’s dams that hold invest in so-called tailing ponds, where byproducts from mines are stored.
The Corrego do Feijao incident is the second span one of the company’s dams has collapsed in just over three years. In 2015, a breach at a tailing pond at the Samarco depository jointly owned by Vale and BHP Billiton, also in Minas Gerais, caused Brazil’s worst environmental disaster and ended 19 people.
On Monday, Brazilian Vice President Hamilton Mourao said the government is considering whether it has the power to force a management change at Vale, and whether that option should be pursued.