Five people have died and four others were injured after an accident occurred on Monday at a coal mine in the northern region of Asturias.
The region’s emergency services reported on X (formerly Twitter) that they were first notified of an ‘incident’ at the Zarréu mine in the Degaña municipality at approximately 9.30am.
Subsequently, they received information indicating that there ‘had been a problem with a machine’, though no further details were provided. Local media reported that there had been an explosion at the coal mine.
The injured were taken to hospitals to be treated, two in helicopters and the other two by ambulance. Another two workers involved in the mine accident were unharmed, authorities said, adding that by late afternoon, there were no missing workers.
According to a statement from the central government’s office in Asturias at just before midday, two of the injured were taken to hospital in Ponferrada with burns, and another to Cangas del Narcea hospital with a head injury.
The five dead ranged in age from 32 to 54 years old and were from the neighbouring province of León, officials said.
The regional leader of Asturias, Adrián Barbón, declared two days of mourning and in a message posted on X, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez extended his ‘sincere condolences’ to the victims’ families and wished the injured a ‘speedy recovery’.
‘I would like to thank the emergency services who are working on the rescue operation,’ he added.
Mining has for centuries been a major industry in Asturias, a densely forested mountainous region.
In 1995, 14 people died following an explosion at a mine in Asturias near the town of Mieres.
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