**OVIEDO, Spain**
At least five people died in a mine explosion in northern Spain on Monday morning, the local emergency services confirmed.
The explosion occurred underground in the Cerredo coal mine in the region of Asturias.
Authorities said four people were seriously injured and two workers escaped unharmed.
Two of the injured people who were rescued were taken to the nearest major hospital in Leon, one with severe burns. The third was taken to a smaller hospital in the nearby city of Cangas del Narcea in grave condition.
A fourth, who was the last to be rescued from the collapsed area of the mine, was also airlifted to Cangas del Narcea.
While the cause of the explosion has not been confirmed, emergency services said they were alerted to an “incident” involving a machinery malfunction.
Guillermo Pelaez, spokesperson for the Asturian regional government, told local media that the miners were working on a graphite-related project.
The Cerredo mine was the largest coal mine in the carbon-rich southwestern area of Asturias. However, the mine gradually fell out of use due to competition across the EU and the decline of coal as an energy source.
This year, the site was repurposed by the local company Blue Solving for the extraction of a “high-performance mineral” linked to graphite production. The project is still in its early phases, though the company estimated it could eventually create up to 60 jobs, according to local daily La Voz de Aviles.
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