Five dead, four injured in Spanish coal mine accident

Five miners died on Monday and four were injured in an accident in a coal mine in the northern Spanish region of Asturias, the regional emergency services said.

Three people were seriously injured and taken to hospital, the central government's office in Asturias said in a statement. Two of the injured had burns while the third suffered a blow to the head, it added.

Two more workers were unharmed.

The emergency services said a machine malfunctioned inside the mine in Degana at 9:32 a.m. (0732 GMT) local time. Three helicopters and two ambulances were sent to the scene.

Regional leader Adrian Barbon declared two days of mourning, while Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sent his "sincere condolences" to the families of the victims and wished a "speedy recovery" to the injured in a message posted on X.

"I would like to thank the emergency services who are working on the rescue operation," he added.