Almost one year ago the biggest environmental Brazilian disaster was about to happen. On the 5th November 2015 the families that used to live in Bento Rodrigues, district of Mariana in Minas Gerais, Brazil, saw their lives changed completely.

Monica Freitas was working in the city when her cell phone rang. At that moment she was informed that the dam, that belongs to the Vale Company and BHP Biliton had burst and consequently her city and also house had been obliterated.

For years, Bento Rodrigues district was controlled financially by Samarco mining company. The population already knew about the risk of the dam however Samarco always ensured everything was safe. The dam was located at the top of the mountain close to the district.

At least seventeen people died and roughly nineteen people were injured. The mud slide swallowed all the houses of the city. About 60 million cubic meters of iron waste flowed into the Doce River and as a result released highly contaminated material in the water causing an ecological disaster.

The Vale Company and BHP Billton denies the accusation that they were aware of the risk of the collapse before it happened.

To try soften the disaster, The Vale agreed to compensate all the families that lived in Bento Rodrigues. Even though most of the people thought it was fair, I remember clearly a comment I heard when I was there “I lost my dad when I was 7 years old. I only remember his face because I had a pictures of him. But now I don’t and no money can make up for this.”Thenceforth, I realized those people do not lose only their houses, they lost their memories, their identity.

After almost one year the causes of the incident are still being investigated but it has already faded from memory for everyone except those still affected.

Debora Komukai, Upper-Intermediate