Brazil: 10 Dead, 32 Injured After Cliff Wall Collapses on Tourist Boats in Furnas Lake

At least 10 people died in Brazil after a huge slab of cliff rock crashed down onto leisure boats in a lake at Capitolio on Saturday.

Al Jazeera reported that at least 32 were also injured after the rock smashed into the water, landing on two small tourist boats, while a number of other vessels sped away. But most of them have been released from the healthcare facilities by Saturday evening.

The said cliff wall is located in Brazil's Furnas Lake, a popular tourist attraction in Capitolio at Minas Gerais state, roughly 420 km north of Sao Paolo. The said lake was created in 1958 for the installation of a hydroelectric plant.

Video Shows How Cliff Rock Fell on Brazil Lake

Videos of the incident showed a column of rock crashing down on tourist boats and sending a huge wave over the lake.

Tourists could be heard screaming in the clip. At least one of the boats appeared to have sunk, while others have managed to escape from the huge wave the rock created.

According to BBC, the incident occurred at around 11 a.m. local time. Brazil's fire officials noted that the canyon wall collapsed after days of rains in Minas Gerais, making the cliffs more susceptible to collapse.

The bodies were reportedly taken to Passos city, where coroners were working to identify them. Regional civil police official Marcos Pimenta identified one of the victims as 68-year-old Julio Borges Antunes.

According to Pimenta, identifying the victims would be challenging due to the "high energy impact" of the rock on the boaters.

Brazil Authorities Conduct Search in Lake for Missing People

Aside from the injured and dead, there were also missing individuals due to the incident. The local fire department deployed helicopters and divers to rescue the stunned tourists and find the missing victims, USA Today reported.

Alessandra Barbosa, a relative of some of the missing victims, told news outlet EPTV that she was seeking news about her uncles, who were spending the weekend at the site and took a boat tour of the cliff.

"I called local hospitals. So far I haven't had any information about them. We are distressed, very concerned," Barbosa noted.

Twenty people were initially reported missing, but Lieutenant Pedro Aihara told reporters that most were accounted for after checking the hospital lists.

Minas Gerais Governor Romeu Zema said the state government has been present from the beginning through the Civil Defense and Fire Department.

"We are suffering the pain of a tragedy in our state due to heavy rains, which caused the loosening of a wall of stones in Lake Furnas, in Capitolio," Zema tweeted.

Zema then extended his support and sympathies with the families during this "difficult time."

"I stand in solidarity with the families at this difficult time. We will continue to act to provide the necessary support," the governor noted.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Joshua Summers

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