[2] The collapse of the dam released a mudflow that engulfed the mine's headquarters, including a cafeteria during lunchtime, along with houses, farms, inns, and roads downstream.

In December 2018, Vale obtained a license to reuse waste from the dam (about 11.7 million cubic meters) and to close down activities.

[15] Córrego do Feijão's Dam I collapsed just after noon, at 12:28 p.m. on 25 January 2019, unleashing a toxic tidal wave of around 12 million cubic metres of tailings.

[17][18] The Inhotim Institute, one of largest open-air art centres in Latin America, located in Brumadinho, was evacuated as a precaution, although the mudflow did not reach the sculpture park.

[26] Schvartsman was refuted by the executive superintendent of the Minas Gerais Association for the Defense of the Environment (AMDA), Maria Dalce Ricas, who said there would be a major environmental impact, due to the characteristics of the region.

According to her assessment, the flow of waste through the valley of the Serra dos Dois Irmãos would cross the road that links Belo Horizonte to Brumadinho and continue towards the Paraopeba River, where there is a lot of Atlantic Forest and a lot of fauna, and would certainly destroy part of the forest, killing many wild animals until it reached the water.

[31] Following assessment by state and federal health, environment, and agriculture agencies, the Minas Gerais Government announced on 31 January that raw water from the Paraopeba River, from its confluence with Ribeirão Ferro-Carvão to Pará de Mina, posed risks to human and animal health and should not be consumed.

Two senior managers of the mine and another Vale employee were arrested, alongside two engineers from the German company TÜV Süd, who had been contracted to inspect the dam.

[40][41][42] The local mining union's treasurer called the disaster "premeditated" as there were continuous and long-standing complaints and warnings about the structural integrity of the dam.

[41] One day after the failure, the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources announced a R$250 million fine on the Vale company.

[43] Brazilian judicial authorities froze US$3 billion of Vale's assets, saying real estate and vehicles would be seized if the company could not come up with the money.

[49] In February 2021, the state government reached an agreement with Vale to repair all environmental damage, and to pay the communities affected socio-economic and socio-environmental reparations, initially estimated at US$7 billion.