“Today we are suffering the tragedy of a loss in our state that resulted from strong rain,” Romeu Zema, the state’s governor, said in a statement.
Michel Leite Neves, a 31-year-old Brazilian tourist who was on a boat in the lake when the cliff collapsed, told the G1 news outlet that he had alerted the craft’s skipper to the rocks tumbling down. At first the boat operator said the phenomenon was normal, but as the rockfall intensified, he gunned the engine with seconds to spare, Mr. Leite said.
“He turned the boat around because he said it was better for us to get out of there,” Mr. Leite said. “But at that moment the cliff was already falling.”
Lake Furnas, which is near the city of Capitólio, is among a cluster of picturesque destinations popular with tourists during the summertime in Minas Gerais. Visitors take boats to watch waterfalls that pour into emerald-colored water.
Lt. Pedro Aihara, a spokesman for the Minas Gerais Fire Department, said at least 24 people survived on the two boats that were directly hit. The search concluded on Sunday with all victims and survivors accounted for.
Source Article from https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/09/world/americas/brazil-cliff-collapses.html
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