Newly built mine tunnel 3,000 feet deep collapses in Spain, killing 3 geologists

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Three Spanish geologists died in a tunnel collapse deep inside a potash mine in northeastern Spain on Thursday, officials said.

The accident occurred inside the Cabanasses de Súria mine just before 9 a.m., at a depth of nearly 3,000 feet, local authorities said. Efforts were ongoing to secure the mine — around 80 kilometers 50 miles northwest of Barcelona — and recover the bodies, they said.

The mine is operated by ICL Iberia, the Spanish subsidiary of Tel Aviv-based ICL Group. An official from the Spanish company confirmed that the three men were Spanish nationals and experienced geologists, and that two of them were postgraduate students at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia’s Manresa engineering school.

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Catalan police cordon off the area at the entrance of the Cabanasses de Súria mine in Spain, on March 9, 2023. Three workers died after becoming trapped deep underground. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu Parra)

A minute’s silence was held at the university on Thursday afternoon.

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.

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Two workers died in similar circumstances at the same mine a decade ago.

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.

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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.