Luiz Taliberti’s body was identified this Wednesday by his mother Helen Taliberti in Brazil at the Minas Gerais State Coroner.
Mr Taliberti, 31, was staying with his family at a small resort in Brumadinho when the Córrego do Feijão dam – run by Brazilian mining company Vale – burst inundating part of the town, killing dozens and leaving hundreds more missing. His body has been found and officially identified by family and Brazilian authorities.
Luiz Taliberti’s partner Fernanda Damian, who was five-months pregnant, his sister Camila, his father Adriano Ribeiro and his stepmother Maria de Lurdes Bueno are still considered missing as per a State Coroner's list published on January 30.
Andrei Dolnikov, founder and CEO of Australian architectural rendering firm, Binyan Studios, and colleague of Taliberti, told SBS Portuguese that he treasures great memories from their years working together.
“Luiz always helped his colleagues to overcome their challenges," he said. "You couldn’t say no to him. [He was] a very genuine, no-ego, very humble, a very confident person in his abilities. People were always happy for him.”
Mr Dolnikov heard the news that Mr Taliberti’s body was found in an email from his stepfather.
Luiz (first from left) and Andrei Dolnikov (third from left): “We used to play soccer after work” Source: Supplied
“We knew for a few days that it didn’t look optimistic but until you actually hear that it was final, you hold back a few of those emotions but when we heard from an email from his stepfather… it was just crushing, everybody was extremely broken, lots of tears, just shocked.”
Recently promoted, Luiz became the studio’s associate creative director. He was “in charge of 25 people working on some of the company’s most important projects.”
“Luiz always helped his colleagues to overcome their challenges. You couldn’t say no to him, a very genuine, no-ego, very humble, a very confident person in his abilities. People were always happy for him,” said Mr Dolnikov Source: Supplied
The Brazilian also received one of the studio’s major staff awards at their end of the year event. His gracious ‘thank you’ speech will now be part of the video tribute his colleagues in Australia are putting together to send to the family in Brazil.
“We want to show what a successful, accomplished, excellent person Luiz was and what a great life he had.”
“You hear these tragedies in other countries, it seems impersonal when you hear them in the news but here we are… knowing only one person," said Dolnikov. "I can only imagine the hundreds of other people affected. How tragic it is for all those families. It is really sad.
The Brazilian also received one of the studio’s major staff awards at their end of the year event. His gracious ‘thank you’ speech will now be part of the video tribute his colleagues in Australia are putting together to send to the family in Brazil. Source: Supplied
“I want to go to the funeral and be there for Luiz and his family, I hope I can go to Brazil.” 
The dam collapse has thus far reportedly killed 99 people, while 259 are still considered missing, as per the latest list published on January 30 by the Minas Gerais State Coroners.
Siga-nos no Facebook, Twitter e Instagram
“Our company always had a family feeling about it and now it feels like he was a member of our family, one of our brothers has gone,” he said. Source: Supplied
Luiz Taliberti’s partner Fernanda Damian, who was five-months pregnant, is still considered missing as per State Coroner's list published on January 30. Source: Facebook
