In Brazil, two Indigenous Yanomami children drowned in a river where illegal gold miners operate.  Yanomami leaders said the children, who were 7 and 5 years old, were sucked into a dredger machine as they were bathing in the Parima River. 

Brasilia, October 18 (RHC)-- In Brazil, two Indigenous Yanomami children drowned in a river where illegal gold miners operate.  Yanomami leaders said the children, who were 7 and 5 years old, were sucked into a dredger machine as they were bathing in the Parima River. 

Brazilian officials alleged the boys were carried away by the river’s currents.  Following the incident, Yanomami leaders, who for long have resisted illegal mining, deforestation and the destruction of their territory, called on far-right President Jair Bolsonaro to kick out the miners who’ve invaded Yanomami land — the largest Indigenous reservation in Brazil. 

According to Indigenous leaders, an estimated 20,000 illegal miners are currently in the region, polluting rivers with mercury that is used to separate gold from sand.