Ten dead and three missing people in a lake in Brazil

Ten+dead+and+three+missing+people+in+a+lake+in+Brazil

Grégoire Papillon, Grégoire Papillon

Saturday, January 8th a piece of rock fell from a cliff and fell down on boats. Ten dead, three people missing and 32 injured in the afternoon of Saturday.

 

This happens in a lake which is very touristic in the south-east of Brazil. The Brazilian victims were between 14 and 68 year old. They were part of the same friend group who were in the boats that suffered the greatest impact during the landslide. Among the injured were nine hospitalized people. The firefighters use diving equipment to go help the people in the lake. “Not all bodies were intact,”  Marcos de Souza Pimenta said. 

What exactly happened is that Saturday afternoon, a large fragment of rock broke away from the cliff and fell on three boats sailing on Furnas Lake. This site is popular for its green waters and spectacular rock walls.  

A viral video was shared on social media, the precise moment when the rock mass breaks away and falls on the three boats can be seen. We can also see the panic among passengers watching the scene on other boats.«On others’ recordings, we can see just before the drama a few people who say a lot of rocks are falling» and calling on the occupants of the boats to move away from the wall.