Peru’s environmental regulator reported Sunday that a tailings dam owned by Southern Copper Corp. had leaked and that the leaked sewage had been discharged into a flooded river.
The Southern Copper industry is one of the largest copper producers in the world.
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Peru’s Environmental Assessment and Monitoring Agency (OEFA) reported that the tailings dam leakage occurred at the Cuajone copper mine in Moquegua, Peru, owned by Southern Copper Corporation, about 860 kilometers southeast of the capital Lima.
OEFA said the Cuajone mine reported to the regulator that it had launched an emergency mining plan because of heavy rains in the south of the country.
Southern Copper is a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico.
Heavy rains in southern Peru have killed at least five people and left hundreds homeless since last week.
OEFA said it would investigate the cause, responsibility and impact of the tailings dam leakage accident.
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Jorge Chavez, director of Peru’s National Civil Defense Research Institute (Indeci), said heavy rains had killed at least five people in the country since Friday and three others were missing, especially in the southern regions of Moquegua and Tacna, where precipitation is expected to continue until Wednesday.
Peruvian President Martn Vizcarra has declared a state of emergency in several provinces.