A blast at a mine in Spain’s northern Asturias region has killed at least five workers and injured four others, according to local emergency services.

The accident occurred Monday morning at the Cerredo mine in Degana, some 450km (280 miles) northwest of Madrid, killing five people from the neighbouring Leon region ranging from the ages of 32 to 54 years old.

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Adriana Lastra, a representative of the central government in Asturias, told reporters at the scene that initial indications showed the blast may have been caused by methane forming an explosive mixture in the mine, a phenomenon known as firedamp.

“Police are already investigating what happened, they are already at the scene,” said Lastra.

The injured were taken to hospitals in nearby cities, two of them by helicopter, suffering burns and, in one case, a head injury.

As news of the blast spread, workers’ families flocked to the site, which was surrounded by police and emergency services vehicles.

“It’s scandalous. Companies used to guarantee safety, but they are doing it less and less,” Jose Antonio Alvarez, a relative of one the miners who died, told regional newspaper El Comercio.

Local newspaper La Voz de Asturias said the mine is owned by a recently created local company called Blue Solving, which was trying to repurpose the site for the extraction of “high-performance minerals” for industrial use.

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Spain’s 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.

The head of the regional government of Asturias, Adrian Barbon, declared two days of mourning “as a sign of respect for the deceased”.

Mining has for centuries been a major industry in Asturias, a densely forested mountainous region.