Nine months after the devastating mudslide in Brazil with more than 250 dead, around 900 residents of the disaster area and the municipality of Brumadinho are suing TÜV Süd for damages.
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As confirmed by the District Court of Munich II SPIEGEL, the complaint was received on Tuesday. The amount of the claim is still determined by the contracted law firms SPG Law and Grohmann. It should go in the two- or three-digit million range.
On January 25, the Abraumdamm I of the iron ore mine Corrégo do Feijão of the raw materials multinational Vale near the city of Brumadinho had burst. The mudslide killed at least 252 people, 19 more are still missing. In the months leading up to the accident, Brazilian TÜV employees had assessed the catastrophe dam and certified it as stable - even though they had previously expressed massive internal doubts about the safety of the dam.
The Brazilian prosecution suspects that the examiners were lenient because they did not want to jeopardize their business with mining giant Vale. This is suggested by excerpts from the internal e-mail traffic of the Brazilian TÜV employees as well as a testimony. Overall, TÜV Süd certified more than 30 dams for Vale. The Munich testing organization warned months before the disaster before further dam breaks.
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Dam failure: devastating mudslide in Brazil"The TÜV Süd and Vale are directly responsible for the death of hundreds of people," said Angélica Amanda Andrade, the sister of a woman killed, the SPIEGEL. Andrade and four other relatives had filed in the past week already at the public prosecutor's office in Munich criminal complaints against the responsible for Brazil TÜV South Manager M. and the testing organization. The prosecution must next decide whether to take proceedings against M. and against the TÜV.
The civil process of the 900 residents is now about money. TÜV Süd stated on Thursday evening on request that they do not comment on ongoing proceedings. He was no action known. In the consolidated financial statements, the organization has formed provisions totaling around 33 million euros for legal defense and consultancy costs alone.
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