A miner lost his life this morning in a work accident inside the Cabanasses potash mine in Súria, in Bages, according to the Mossos d’Esquadra. The victim was a resident of Sant Martí de Torruella and was 26 years old. While the circumstances of the death are being investigated, the main hypothesis is that it was due to a rockfall inside the mine. In addition to the young deceased, another worker was injured in the accident, although his life is not feared to be in danger.
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The events occurred around 11 a.m. when the victim was in one of the continuous miners, at a depth of between 750 to 900 meters. After becoming aware of the accident, according to the company in a statement, the emergency protocol was activated and the mine was evacuated, where about 240 employees were working at that time. The Medical Emergency System attended to three people, one of whom is the deceased victim, another who was transferred in less serious condition to the Althaia Hospital in Manresa, and the third did not require transfer.
The Mossos have opened proceedings and have reported the facts to the duty court and the subdirectorate responsible for mines of the Department of Business and Labor. It so happens that three years ago a similar accident occurred in which three people died.
For its part, the management of ICL Iberia (Iberpotash), the company that operates the facilities, has expressed deep regret over what happened and has conveyed its condolences and solidarity to the family, colleagues, and friends of the victim. It has also decided to suspend activity at all its facilities as a sign of mourning.
The Generalitat inspected the mine a week ago
The Minister of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau, has traveled to the scene. After meeting with company representatives and workers, he explained that since the accident that occurred in the mine in 2023, the Directorate General of Industry has been conducting inspections every three or four weeks, the last one just a few days ago, on July 21. No anomalies were found.
Dalmau announced that the Government has opened an investigation to determine the causes of the accident and to take “the necessary measures,” in parallel with the judicial investigation. He also sent a message of “zero tolerance” towards workplace accidents. The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, who is on an institutional tour in Southeast Asia, expressed his condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the deceased worker.
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Both the USOC union and Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO.), both represented on the company committee, have assured that they will ensure the causes of the accident are clarified and that responsibilities are determined, if any. They have also demanded that the management of ICL Iberia, a subsidiary of the Israeli group ICL, adopt all necessary safety measures to prevent such a tragedy from happening again. This request is especially relevant considering that this is not the first time people have died in the mine.
On March 9, 2023, three young geologists—two workers and an intern—died in the same mine when a slab of the roof of one of the exploitation galleries gave way and fell on them while they were analyzing the potash vein. Last June, the instruction court number 6 of Manresa provisionally closed the case, considering that there was no serious omission of safety measures by the company operating the facilities.
According to the report collected in the order, the three geologists were together and under the slab that suddenly detached because they did not detect any sign of instability. Consequently, it was concluded that the deaths were accidental.
The Cabanasses mine is located at a depth ranging from 650 to 900 meters, from where it extracts potash that is then processed at a plant in the same municipality of Súria, connected to the company’s port terminal in the Port of Barcelona. The ICL group exports 80% of the production to countries in the European Union, Asia, and America.
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