Brasilia, January 29 (RHC)-- In Brazil, search and rescue missions are looking for survivors after a mining dam collapsed on Friday in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.  At least 65 people were killed, with the death toll expected to rise as at least 300 are still missing. 

The dam, which was over 40 years old and was in the process of being decommissioned, dumped millions of tons of iron ore waste after it broke, swamping everyone in its path. 

Anger against mining giant Vale has been mounting among workers and local residents.  Vale was at the center of one of Brazil’s worst environmental disasters in 2015 when a mine in the same region collapsed, killing 19 people and flooding waterways with millions of tons of waste.

Vale shares plummeted 17 percent in Monday trading on the Sao Paulo stock exchange, which had been closed Friday.  Brazil's top prosecutor Raquel Dodge, said the company should be held firmly responsible and criminally prosecuted.  She added that executives could also be personally held responsible.

As search efforts continued Monday, firefighters laid down wood planks to cross a sea of sludge that is hundreds of meters wide in places, to reach a bus in search of bodies inside.  Villagers discovered the bus as they tried to rescue a nearby cow stuck in the mud.