An underground collapse occurred at a potash mine in northeastern Spain early on Thursday, trapping and killing three workers.

The incident took place in the town of Suria in Catalonia, where the mine is located, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Barcelona.

The workers were trapped about 900 meters (around 2,953 feet) underground, firefighters said.

Firefighters and police were still working on recovering the miners' bodies, alongside teams from the company operating the mine, the Spanish EFE news agency reported.

A landslide in a gallery of the mine at 08:53 local time (07:53 GMT) caused the accident. Trade union sources told EFE that the safety measures at the mine "are not what they should be."

Local media said more and more emergency teams were arriving at the scene of the accident in an attempt to retrieve the bodies.

Several Catalan politicians and officials offered their condolences to the families of the victims.

The mine had passed its latest security review, conducted three weeks ago, the Reuters news agency cited a Catalan government official as saying.

The company operating the mine is Iberpotash. It is owned by the Tel Aviv-based ICL Group Ltd.

rmt/sms (AFP, EFE, Reuters)