The miner never knows if he will return home. And yesterday, Amadeo, Iván, Rubén, Jorge and David They did not return. A possible explosion of Grisú on the third floor of the Cerredo mine, located in the Asturian municipality of Degaña, ended … With their lives. Four of them died on the spot, the fifth on the helicopter trip that took him to the Hospital of Oviedo. In addition, others Four workers were serious injurieswhile two were unharmed in the accident.
In recent years, the conversion of the sector and the closure of mines had kept away the death of the mining valleys, but the tragedy returned yesterday to an exploitation in which different tests were being carried out with the intention of reopening it. «It’s about a very modern mine, It is not of the traditional type with a well, but a wide ramp that allows the passage of trucks, with a slope of 6%, ”explains José Antonio Sáenz de Santa María, a geologist and head of Geology of Hunosa for more than 20 years.
In the absence of a more complete investigation, all indications suggest that the accident could be caused by an explosion of Grisú. «The gas is not found in bags, but within coal, which in contact with the atmosphere begins to disorber (release) gray. Since the accident has occurred early Monday, when the work began, it is very possible that during the weekend, in which there was no ventilationwould have accumulated in the key to the tunnels, ”he explains as a possible hypothesis to ABC Saénz de Santa María, who was also president of the College of Geologists of Asturias. A hypothesis that corroborates Alfredo, a retired miner, who expects the latest news at the door of the Villablino City Council (León), where there are four of the five deaths.
“Grisú is not explosive except in concentrations between 5 and 14%”
“In any case, an explosion of this type, which is not usually usual, is not only due to a reason, but is the concatenation of circumstances that should never have occurred, and that only one of them would never occur would never have occurred such an accident,” explains the geologist. «You have to keep in mind that the Grisú is not explosive except in concentrations between 5 and 14%; Above this, this accident would not have happened, ”he adds as an example.
Emergency services received a first notice at 9:30, when they were alerted to an incidence in the coal mine, currently owned by the Spanish company Blue Solving, which also operates in the Tormaleo mine, in Ibias. Even so, the first assistance was made by the colleagues of the affected miners. «One of the wounded came out on his own footand although he was a little stunned, he even wanted to drive the car to take his teammates to the Villablino Health Center, ”explains one of the neighbors at the door of the City Council of the Leon town.
It was until this town, the closest to the exploitation and of which the majority of those affected are neighbors, where the two injured of less gravity were transferred in private cars. From there, they were evacuated to the reference hospital centers, one in the sanitary helicopter and the other in a basic life support ambulance. The third wounded was transferred by ambulance to the Hospital de Cangas del Narcea for a cranioecephalic trauma, and the fourth, which remained caught for hours, was transferred to the Huca de Oviedo after being rescued near noon.
Lethal ‘pipada’ gases
The five deaths were transferred to Oviedo, where the autopsy will be performed, which will be key to knowing if they died due to the explosion or consequence of the gases of the ‘pipada’, mostly CO (carbon monoxide)which is lethal. As ABC has been confirmed, once the autopsy has been performed, the deceased will be transferred to Villablino’s sports center throughout this morning, where the burning chapel will be installed.
The Cerredo mine, where the accident took place, is an important exploitation for the extraction of coal that was closed in 2018 after the restrictions of the European Union, as Jorge Fernández, head of the Territorial Unit of the IGME in Asturias, explained to ABC. However, he has remained intermittently in the hand of private companies for the anthracite extraction for steelurgy And with possibilities for the use of graphite, since it continues to maintain “important coal reserves,” according to the geologist.
After other farms in previous stages, in which “a high quality coal” was achieved, according to the residents of the area, the objective of the new owners of the Cerredo mine is now focused on the graphite, which is obtained in small layers of the anthracite (the most evolved coal, with A 95% carbon concentration). The current technological advance has made graphite one of the most precious minerals, not only for graphene production, but for the development of various engineering pieces, such as pistons and bearings. In addition, thanks to its electrical conductivity and chemical resistance, it is used to make electrodes. Before his shortage, China has suspended all exports and has reserved all its production for its own consumption. In the Cerredo mine you can obtain graphite directly.
The deceased, native to mining regions
The deceased, between 32 and 54, are Jorge Carro, Rubén Robla, Amadeo Bernabé, David Álvarez and a fifth man who responded to the name of Iván, but in whose last name this newspaper has not had access.
The first three and the last were originally from Orallo, Sosas de Laciana and Villaseca de Laciana, belonging to the municipality of Villablino. Jorge Carro had just been a father and leave a baby. David Álvarez, 33, son of a miner and whose father tried to dissuade him from the profession they both exercised, came from Torre del Bierzo.
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