Vale, the world’s biggest producer of the steelmaking ingredient iron ore, on Thursday posted a $1.6bn loss in the first quarter of the year as the company reels from a deadly dam disaster that killed over 230 people.

The loss was driven by $4.5bn in “expenses related” to the dam disaster in Brumadinho in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, including provisions for a compensation programme and the decommissioning of tailings dams, and $450m related to “operational stoppages”. 

Quarterly revenue fell to $8.2bn in the three months to the end of March from $8.6bn in the same period a year ago on lower sales as a result of some of its operations going offline after the disaster.

The deadly dam breach also led to a $652m loss before tax, depreciation and amortisation — Vale’s first ever negative quarterly Ebitda result. During the same period last year, the company reported $3.9bn in adjusted Ebitda.

The Rio de Janeiro-based company has been dealing with the worst crisis in its history since late January when a tailings dam collapsed leaving a swath of destruction that killed 237 people, displaced hundreds more and triggered an outpouring of public anger against Vale. This resulted in the departure of former chief executive Fabio Schvartsman.

On Thursday, Eduardo Bartolomeo, who replaced him, said he was “committed to leading Vale through the most challenging moment in its history”.