6 dead, 5 injured in Spanish mine accident

At least six people aged between 35 and 45 years old were killed and another five are injured in a gas leak at a coalmine in northwestern Spain. Local media reported that one of the workers killed in the accident, which took place at the Santa Lucia mine near the town of Pola de Gordon, was from Asturias, a region in North West Spain close to Castile and Leon. The others were from villages in Leon: Pradilla, Bembibre, Cinera de Grodon, Fontanos de Torio and Robles de Valcueva. The Civil Guards have also confirmed that injured have been taken to a hospital in Leon. One of the injured, a man of 38 years old, is in critical condition. The regional government of Castile and Leon decreed three days of official mourning following the accident. Spanish Industry Minister Jose Manuel Soria has traveled to Leon to send condolences to affected families. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also expressed his support to the families and injured via twitter. The accident happened in the Nueva Mina (New Mine) at the side which is some 700 meters underground. The coal mine was inaugurated in September 1994, before actually coming into service in 1996. Monday\'s accident is the worst since 1994 when 14 miners were killed in a methane explosion at a coalmine near Mieres in the northern province of Austurias.