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ARCHIVED - Three geologists buried alive in Barcelona mining tragedy
The young men were killed when the roof of a potash mine collapsed in the town of Súria
Three young geologists, aged 28, 29 and 31, have died after the roof of a Súria (Barcelona) potash mine caved in on them. Tragically, the scientists were actually investigating the safety of the site when the landslide occurred.
A spokesperson from the fire department explained that the men were working at a depth of about 650 metres in Barcelona’s Cabanasses de Súria mine on Thursday March 9 when the ceiling of one of the galleries gave way. The alarm was raised shortly before 9am and the rescue workers began the dangerous task of recovering the bodies.
It has since been confirmed that two of the deceased were pursuing master’s degrees at the Manresa Polytechnic School of Engineering (Polytechnic University of Catalonia) while the third was undertaking a doctorate at the University of Barcelona.
An official source explained that Daniel and Oscar from Spain and Victoriano, a Columbian national, "were carrying out routine inspection tasks" when the gallery caved in unexpectedly. Just three weeks ago, an examination of the site carried out by Barcelona technicians failed to detect any instability in the mine.
A full investigation has been launched into the cause of the tragedy.
This is the second fatal accident in the Súria mine in the last decade. In December 2013, two workers lost their lives when a boulder fell on them as they were carrying out machinery repairs some 800 metres below ground. And a year and a half earlier, an elevator maintenance worker died when he plummeted into an 80-metre well.
Elsewhere in Barcelona, back in 2020, two other workers died less than a month apart in separate accidents at the nearby Vilafruns mine.
Between the two mining operations, fifteen deaths have been registered in work accidents in the last three decades.
In other news: Imports of Russian gas to Spain shoot up by 192 per cent
Image: Freepik
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