A survey was launched that was investigated to ensure safety, with relatives criticising mining companies as “increasingly fewer.”
At least five workers have been killed and four other workers injured in the explosion at a mine in the Asturias region of northern Spain, according to local emergency services.
The accident occurred Monday morning at the Ceredo mine in Degana, about 450km (280 miles) northwest of Madrid, killing five people from the neighbouring Leon area, ages 32 to 54.
Adriana Rustra, the representative of Asturias’ central government, told reporters on the scene that the first signs could have been caused by the formation of an explosive mixture of methane in the mine.
“The police are already investigating what happened. They are already on the scene,” said Lastra.
The injured were taken to a hospital in a nearby city, two of whom were burned by helicopters and, in some cases, head injuries.
As news of the explosion spread, workers’ families flocked to the site surrounded by police and emergency service vehicles.
“It’s scandalous. The companies were guaranteeing safety, but they’re doing it more and more,” Miner’s relative Jose Antonio Alvarez told the local newspaper El Commercio.
Families and workers gather following an accident at the Celedo coal mine in Degana, Asturias [Cesar Manso/AFP]
Local newspaper La Voz de Asturias said the mine was owned by a recently created local business called Blue Solving.
In a message posted to X, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sent “honest drive” to the victims’ families and wanted the injured “quickly recovery.”
Adrian Bourbon, head of Asturias Regional Government, declared two days of mourning “as a sign of respect for the deceased.”
Mining has been a major industry in Asturias, a forested mountainous region for centuries.
