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UPDATE: Deceased geologists were evaluating safety of Barcelona’s Suria mine when roof ‘fell on them’

By Chris King • Updated: 10 Mar 2023 • 1:45

UPDATE: Deceased geologists were evaluating safety of Barcelona's Suria mine when roof 'fell on them'

Image from the Suria mine incident in Barcelona. Credit: Twitter@interiorcat

At the time of their death, the three geologists were allegedly evaluating the safety of the potash mine in Suria, Barcelona when the roof ‘fell on them’ according to the mine’s CEO.

Friday, March 10 at 1:45am

According to Patricio Chacana, the CEO of the Suria potash mine in Barcelona where three young geologists died, they were evaluating the safety of one of the fronts when the roof ‘fell on them’. This was reported several hours after the tragedy that saw the three men trapped and subsequently losing their lives, on Thursday 9.

“The ceiling collapsed and it is not known why. It could have been due to vibrations or an earthquake”, said a representative of the USOC union, as reported by 20minutos.es.

Thursday, March 9 at 7:29pm

Members of the Special Actions Group (GRAE) of the Fire Department have recovered the bodies of the three geologists who died earlier this Thursday, March 9. They became trapped in a potash mine in the Barcelona municipality of Suria in the comarca of the Bages, after a landslide.

The firefighters were notified of the incident at 8:53am. Subsequently, the judicial committee, led by the magistrate of the 6th examining magistrate’s court in Manresa, proceeded this afternoon to remove the bodies of the victims, aged 28, 29 and 31.

According to reports, two of the deceased were master’s degree students at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), at its headquarters in Manresa. The fatal victims of the mine belonging to the company Iberpotash in Barcelona’s Cabanasses de Suria were from Sant Joan de Vilatorrada in Barcelona, Colombia, and Alicante.

The three workers were trapped this morning at a depth of 900 meters after the collapse of a gallery and emergency workers, together with the mine’s rescue brigade, were initially unable to access the affected area due to access difficulties.

Pere Aragones, the President of the Generalitat, expressed his condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of the victims. He also praised the work of the Bombers de la Generalitat for “stabilising the gallery where the collapse occurred and recovering the bodies of the young people”.

“It has been a difficult job because it was necessary to ensure that the emergency bodies could have all the security to be able to remove the bodies. The recovery of the bodies was highly complex. We are in sympathy with the miners who have seen that their colleagues are no longer with them. Today is a day of accompaniment and recognition of everyone’s work”, he added.

Roger Torrent, the Minister of Enterprise and Labour, explained that the General Directorate of Mines recently carried out an “exhaustive and periodic control” of the mines in Catalonia. Three weeks ago they inspected the mine where today’s tragedy occurred without opening any file against it.

Joan Ignasi Elena, the Minister of the Interior, assured that an investigation has been opened to determine the causes and that they will take the conclusions to the relevant court, as reported by niusdiario.es.

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Written by

Chris King

Originally from Wales, Chris spent years on the Costa del Sol before moving to the Algarve where he is a web reporter for The Euro Weekly News covering international and Spanish national news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com

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