Police cordon off the area at the entrance of the Cabanasses de Súria mine around 80km northwest of Barcelona, Spain. Photo / AP
Police cordon off the area at the entrance of the Cabanasses de Súria mine around 80km northwest of Barcelona, Spain. Photo / AP
Three Spanish geologists have died in a tunnel collapse deep inside a potash mine in northeastern Spain.
The accident occurred in the Cabanasses de Súria mine at a depth of 900 meters when the three victims were inspecting “an interior area”, the mine operator said. It took several hours forrescuers to recover the bodies from the mine, which lies around 80km northwest of Barcelona.
It was confirmed that the three men were Spanish nationals, aged 28, 29, and 31, and experienced geologists.
Some 240 workers were immediately evacuated after the incident.
Two of the victims were also postgraduate students at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia’s Manresa engineering school.
Mine employee Carlos Arnaldo said the collapsed section was only built “a few days ago”. Catalonia’s regional head of business, Roger Torrent, stated that the mine had passed regular safety inspections. “The checks were regular. The last one was three weeks ago,” Torrent said.
Two workers died in similar circumstances at the same mine a decade ago.
An ambulance is photographed inside the Cabanasses de Súria mine. Photo / AP
Catalan regional president Pere Aragonès offered his condolences to families affected by the “tragic accident”. The regional government announced an investigation, and a judicial probe was also opened.
Around 20,000 people work in Spain’s mining sector, according to Energy Ministry statistics, a figure that has halved in the past two decades.
Between 2016 and 2021, the last year for which statistics were available, an average of four mining workers died annually in the southern European country.
