A salt mine could collapse and pollute the water and soil in the Maceio region, in the northeast of the country.
In the North East of Brazil, the fears of the inhabitants of Maceio are confirmed: a salt mine partially collapsed on Sunday in this town on the Atlantic coast, without causing any casualties.
The mine risks completely collapsing but the 55,000 inhabitants of the threatened neighborhoods have already all been evacuated.
Environmentalists, however, fear an ecological catastrophe since a huge quantity of salt could dissolve in coastal waters and destroy ecosystems.
Local authorities hope that this partial collapse will now stabilize the system.