After seven hours of difficult work carried out jointly by the Special Action Group (GRAE) of the Catalan Firefighters and the mine rescue brigade, the bodies of three mine employees who were buried in a collapse in a potash mine at Súria, in central Catalonia, were recovered shortly after 5pm this afternoon. The bodies were brought to the surface and a court in the city of Manresa took charge of the formal post mortem processes with regard to the three victims.
The 3 victims, at a depth of 900 metres
The rescue began when the alarm was given at 8:53am of a collapse in a gallery at a depth of about 900 metres in which three people had been trapped. The GRAE and several special units of the Catalan fire department and the mine rescue brigade moved into action, with the first step being to secure the area to prevent further collapses from occurring. Reinforcement work was carried out in the tunnel as well as removal of debris, in order to work safely in the removal of the bodies.
Around five in the afternoon, the rescue teams were able to access the area where the bodies of the three trapped geologists were found and their deaths were confirmed. The bodies of the three young men were removed from the mine, where the coroner confirmed their deaths and the Manresa court took charge of the corpses.
Despite the rescue of the bodies, the police operation is still continuing. The underground unit and the Technical Ocular Inspection police unit (IOTP) descended to the place of the accident to take photos and record images that will serve to complete the Mossos report and facilitate the information to the judge and the Catalan police to determine what happened.
Mine halts its activity until funerals
The company in charge of managing the Súria mines, ICL Iberia Súria & Sallent, expressed its regret over the events and offered its condolences to the families of the three men. The company's CEO, Patricio Chacana, stated that the company has decided to halt its activity at the mine until the funerals of the men are held. The three young men, Daniel, Óscar and Victorio, were geologists, two completing their masters at the Polytechnical University of Catalonia (UPC) and one on an internship. There were carrying out a routine assessment when part of the roof of the gallery collapsed. The company has opened an internal investigation "to learn from this pain and keep on making the mine safer."