RIO DE JANEIRO, April 12 (Reuters) - A Brazilian court has accepted a request for bankruptcy protection from miner Samarco, a joint venture between Australia's BHP Group BHP.AX and Brazil's Vale VALE3.SA , according to a Samarco statement on Monday.
The firm's financial trouble is connected to the collapse of a dam containing mining waste at a Samarco mine in 2015, killing 19 people and releasing a giant torrent of sludge. It is considered Brazil's worst-ever environmental disaster.