7 dead after falling from huge cliff in Brazil

Sao Paulo, Brazil .- At least seven people died, three are missing, and about thirty were injured after a huge rocky wall of a canyon rushed on Saturday on tourist boats in a lake in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, which suffers a heavy rainstorm in recent days. The Fire Department of Minas Gerais, Brazil, initially reported 20 missing, but hours later substantially reduced that number after contacting many of those victims who had been rescued alive by other boats. The accident also left about thirty injured, four of whom are hospitalized. It happened around 11.00 local time (14.00 GMT) on Lake Furnas, a tourist spot in the municipality of Capitólio (southeast), when a large block of stone fell from a height of five meters on four boats, of which two were hit hard. A video circulating on social networks and whose authenticity was confirmed to Efe by firefighters shows the moment when the huge rock detaches from the canyon wall and rushes over the group of boats that were in the lake. In another video moments before the accident, the affected boats are seen trying to move away from the wall of the canyon, between the warnings and the screams of the people who were in the surrounding boats. Firefighters ceased search efforts when it got dark for safety reasons and will resume them on Sunday morning. Brazilian authorities suspect that heavy rainfall in recent days has put pressure on the canyon walls, which may have triggered the landslide. The spokesman of the Fire Department of Minas Gerais, Pedro Aihara, explained in statements to the channel ‘GloboNews’ that this region of canyons is formed by sedimentary rocks “more susceptible to the actions of the wind and the rains” and, therefore, “present a lower resistance”. “We are in a fairly rainy period, which has been able to accelerate the penetration of water into the rocky structure,” he said. For its part, the Brazilian Navy reported in a note that it opened an investigation to clarify the causes and circumstances of the accident. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro called the event a “regrettable disaster” and highlighted the Navy’s role in rescuing and helping victims. One of the various publications that the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has made about the tragedy registered today in Lake Furnas located in the state of Minas Gerais. (Screenshot) For his part, the governor of Minas Gerais, Romeu Zema, also regretted what happened on his social networks and expressed solidarity “with the families in this difficult moment.” We will continue to act to provide the necessary support and protection,” he said. The town of Capitólio, located about 280 kilometers from Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais (southeast), is a tourist destination throughout the year for its impressive gorges that can be visited by boat rides. Read more: Ricky Montaner and Stefi Roitman viralize image dressed as boyfriends after getting marriedIn another point of Minas Gerais, heavy rains also caused this Saturday the overflow of a dam of the French steel company Vallourec that forced to cut the highway that connects Belo Horizonte with Rio de Janeiro, without any fatalities. Colossal rock breaks off a canyon and crushes 5 people who were riding tourist boats in Brazil

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