Around 1000 people have held a protest to mark the one year anniversary of Brazil's worst environmental disaster, the deadly collapse of an iron ore mine dam jointly owned by BHP Billiton.
A torrent of toxic mud was released when the dam in the town of Bento Rodrigues collapsed on November 5, 2015, killing 19 people and flooding the Doce River with around 35 billion litres of mining waste which flowed hundreds of kilometres to the Atlantic coast.
Survivors and environmentalists were on Saturday protesting against the alleged negligence of the mine's owner Samarco and its failure to pay compensation, the newspaper "Folha de Sao Paulo" reported.
Brazilian prosecutors in October charged 21 Samarco employees with qualified homicide.
The Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton and Brazil's Vale, which jointly own Samarco, have rejected the charges.
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BHP Billiton has committed to make a provision of up to $US2.2 billion for rebuilding and rehabilitating the devastated area.
A civil claim of $US6.2 billion is also set to start at a Brazilian court, which the company has said it will appeal.
