Initial investigations indicate that the accident which occurred last Friday in the Asturian mine of Vega de Rengos (Cangas del Narcea), in which two miners lost their lives, was due to the “sudden, fortuitous and unexpected” collapse of the roof of a tunnel, as the Minister of Science, Industry and Labor of the Principality, Borja Sánchez, declared on Monday after the weekly meeting of the Government Council.
“While waiting for the witnesses to collect their depositions, I can tell you that everything indicates that there was a sudden collapse of the starting workshop, in a tunnel of about 70 meters with a layer about three meters wide. The detachment, the technicians calculate, was between six and eight meters from the roof, enough to trap the two workers.”
It is the first explanation of the repeated tragedy in the Asturian mine which caused the death of the miners Óscar Díaz, 32 years old, and Anilso Soares de Brito, 42 years old, in an accident on which the Mining Service of the Principality will carry out an investigation separate from that conducted by the Judicial Police of the Civil Guard.
The head of Industry of the Asturian Government confirmed that professionals from the Mining Service entered the area of the collapse on Friday and that the point of the mine where the collapse occurred had been inspected the day before by two inspectors from the Principality. “They were right in the area where the accident would have occurred, without detecting any risk or indication of what would happen,” confirmed Borja Sánchez.
The councilor recalled that Tyc Narcea, owner of the mine, is subject to inspections every three weeks, some of which are not notified. It has a Complementary Research Project (PIC) in place which allows it to extract 90,000 tonnes of high quality coal with the aim of evaluating its results in pig iron production. Although this quota is far from being exhausted, the test results are satisfactory, as the anthracite allows the steel company to continue its production while reducing its emissions. For this reason, since last May, Tyc Narcea has been processing a normal exploitation permit.
“The company has been the subject of permanent control by the Mining Service and we are talking about something completely different from what happened in Cerredo,” Sánchez insisted. In that mine, five workers died on March 31 due to a firedamp explosion when unauthorized coal extraction was carried out, without respecting the safety and ventilation measures required by law. Cerredo’s company, Blue Solving, had also obtained a PIC, but had not activated it, limiting the current authorization to a permit for the removal of scrap metal. Another difference between the two cases is that in Cerredo the Mining Service had not carried out an inspection for six months, while since that incident surveillance in Vega de Rengos had been doubled. “Tyc Narcea had all the permits in order and underwent periodic checks. They are two totally different issues, with the bad luck that they coincided in a very short period of time,” added the Asturian councilor.
Closed farm
In a statement, Tyc Narcea explains that “from the first moment, the company has made all its technical and human resources available to the administrations, because we understand that, in the face of a tragedy of this magnitude, the essential thing is to collaborate without reservations. Nothing prepares you for the devastation of looking into the eyes of families destroyed by pain and not finding words capable of alleviating, even in the slightest, their suffering”.
“The ownership feels deeply shocked and, at the same time, frustrated. We know that we work under the strictest levels of security, subject to constant checks and surrounded by teams made up of professionals with enormous experience in the mining sector, both from the company and from the Administration itself. Yet, a cruel twist of fate, a natural phenomenon impossible to predict, has unleashed what should never have happened. This thought weighs enormously and is no consolation to anyone.”
In addition to expressing solidarity with the victims and their families, Tyc Narcea owners underline that “now, the most important thing is to allow the Administration to carry out its work with serenity, rigor and respect. When its work is completed, we will follow with total responsibility each of the indications determined by the competent authorities”.
The TyC Narcea factory remains closed as a sign of mourning for the two deceased workers. The resumption of activity is not expected at least this week, pending how the investigations to ascertain the causes of the accident will proceed.
Óscar Díaz, resident of Cangas del Narcea, and Anilso Soares de Brito, resident of Villablino, are the names of the victims of last Friday’s accident. Anilso was originally from Cape Verde and lived in the Leonese region of Laciana, where four of the five killed in March in Cerredo also come from.
