SURIA, Spain (AP) — Three staff died in a tunnel collapse deep inside a potash mine in northeastern Spain on Thursday.
The collapse occurred contained in the Cabanasses de Súria mine simply earlier than 9 a.m., at a depth of 900 meters (almost 3,000 toes), native police and firefighters confirmed. Efforts are ongoing to recuperate the our bodies, they mentioned. The mine is situated round 80 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Barcelona.
Two of the useless have been masters college students at Polytechnic College of Catalonia’s Manresa engineering faculty, the establishment mentioned in an announcement. A minute’s silence was held of their reminiscence on Thursday afternoon.
One of many college students was an intern at ICL Iberia, the Spanish subsidiary of Tel Aviv-based ICL Group, which owns the mine. ICL Group did not instantly touch upon the incident. Two staff died in related circumstances on the identical mine a decade in the past.
Catalan regional president Pere Aragonès provided his condolences to the households affected, describing the incident as a “tragic accident.” The labor division of the regional authorities introduced an investigation into the accident, and a judicial probe was additionally opened.
Catalonia’s regional head of enterprise, Roger Torrent, mentioned that the mine had handed common security inspections. “The checks have been common. The final one was three weeks in the past,” Torrent mentioned.
Round 20,000 individuals work in Spain’s mining sector, based on Power Ministry statistics, a determine that has halved prior to now twenty years.
Between 2016 and 2021, the final yr for which statistics have been accessible, a mean of 4 staff have died yearly in Spain’s mining sector.
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O’Mahony reported from Madrid