Nineteen people died in the Mariana disaster, prompting a claim of up to £36bn claim against the mining firm BHP

With tears in their eyes, mothers of children who died in Brazil’s worst environmental disaster – the 2015 Mariana dam collapse – demanded justice for their loved ones as submissions in their London lawsuit came to an end on Thursday.

Nineteen people were killed when the Mariana dam in south-eastern Brazil collapsed and unleashed a wave of toxic sludge, leaving thousands homeless, flooding forests and polluting the Doce River.