On 5 November 2015, a mine dam holding back waste water from an iron ore mine in Mariana, South-Eastern Brazil, owned by Samarco, a joint venture between Vale and BHP Billiton, collapsed, devastating a nearby town with mudslides, killing at least 17 people, injuring more than 50 and causing an enormous ecological damage,[4] and threatening life along the Rio Doce and the Atlantic sea near the mouth of the Rio Doce.[5] About 60 million cubic meters of iron waste flowed into the Doce River. Toxic brown mudflows reached the Atlantic Ocean 17 days later.