IDF aid mission in Brazil comes to an end

"Our aid mission to Brazil has come to an end, and our soldiers will soon be heading home to Israel. Brazil, we are proud to have been by your side," it tweeted on Thursday night.

By ILANIT CHERNICK
Updated: JANUARY 31, 2019 22:29
Israeli military personnel arrive to help search for victims of a collapsed tailings dam owned by Brazilian mining company Vale SA, at Confins airport in Belo Horizonte, Brazil January 27, 2019 (photo credit: WASHINGTON ALVES / REUTERS)
Israeli military personnel arrive to help search for victims of a collapsed tailings dam owned by Brazilian mining company Vale SA, at Confins airport in Belo Horizonte, Brazil January 27, 2019
(photo credit: WASHINGTON ALVES / REUTERS)
The IDF confirmed late on Thursday night that its search and rescue mission in Brazil was completed.
At least 99 people have been confirmed dead since the rupture of a dam on Friday, and more than 250 are considered missing. Most of the missing are expected to have been buried under a river of slurry – the muddy byproduct of iron ore processing at the nearby Vale mine.
"Our aid mission to Brazil has come to an end, and our soldiers will soon be heading home to Israel. Brazil, we are proud to have been by your side," it tweeted on Thursday night.
Prior to the announcement, the official State of Israel Twitter account posted on Thursday afternoon that Israel was "completing a humanitarian aid mission to #Brazil, following the devastating #brumadinho dam collapse disaster, which claimed more than 80 victims.
"We are proud to assist our Brazilian friends and we stand with the people of Brazi." it said

The IDF delegation has helped to recover 35 bodies since it arrived at the site on Monday morning, Hazan said. They did not locate any survivors, but they did manage to track down a group of 15 people that were believed to have been swallowed up by the mud, but were alive and well at another location.
Amy Spiro contributed to this report.