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Anglo American workers disappear in Brazil

2 April, 2013The deadly accident occurred around midnight on Wednesday 27 March and involved a floating quay on the River Amazon that the company uses to load iron ore from the nearby Santana mine.

Six of the mining company’s employees, three directly employed and three subcontractor workers, disappeared after the floating quay sank in the River Amazon. The bodies of three of the six disappeared workers have been recovered by rescue workers.

Two of the bodies were found about six kilometres from Santana, a port on the River Amazon in the Brazilian state of Amapá where the floating infrastructure was located and another was found near the scene of the accident, according to the regional emergency services.

The company said that part of the river bank to which the quay was anchored collapsed and caused the whole structure to sink, including lorries, containers, cranes, cabins and port equipment.

The sinking was initially attributed to a large wave that had reportedly swept along the river. However, the authorities said that they are still investigating the causes and that it appears that the wave was itself caused by the sinking of the quay.

IndustriALL demands a rigorous investigation of the causes of the accident and fair compensation for the families of the disappeared workers irrespective of whether they were directly employed or subcontracted.