Explosion during controlled blast at O Porriño quarry in Spain injures four workers
A controlled detonation at a quarry in Atios, Pontevedra, injured four men on Friday, leaving one worker in serious condition with extensive burns.
Blasting incident in Atios
An explosion occurred during a controlled demolition operation at a quarry in the parish of Atios, within the municipality of O Porriño in Pontevedra, Spain. The blast took place shortly after 13:00 on Friday, 2 October 2026, catching several workers inside the active sector. Emergency dispatchers at 112 Galicia received the initial notification at approximately 13:10 from a caller requesting urgent healthcare assistance for multiple injured employees. The facility halted all quarrying operations immediately after the blast. Municipal authorities and site managers subsequently cancelled all remaining demolition works that had been scheduled to take place throughout the rest of Friday.
Casualties and hospital transfers
The explosion injured four male quarry workers, all between the ages of 42 and 63. One of the men sustained serious burns across a large area of his body before emergency teams stabilized his condition on site. A medical helicopter airlifted him for specialized hospital care, with source accounts listing his transport either directly to the burns unit at the University Hospital of A Coruña or to the Álvaro Cunqueiro Hospital in Vigo. Ambulances transported the other three injured employees to a hospital in Vigo to treat a combination of contusions and burns. A fifth worker who was stationed in the same zone avoided all harm because he had briefly walked away from the blast location to retrieve work materials.
- Controlled detonation takes place at the Atios quarry while personnel remain in the hazard area.
- Emergency agency 112 Galicia receives the first emergency call requesting medical assistance.
- Responders evacuate four injured workers to regional hospitals and cancel remaining demolition works.
Emergency deployment and rescue
Emergency teams faced operational difficulties reaching the injured staff due to the quarry layout. Firefighters from the O Porriño station and regional brigades had to intervene directly on foot to extract the four men from an area that was difficult to reach by standard overland vehicles. The Galician medical emergency agency, Servizo de Urxencias Sanitarias de Galicia-061, deployed both land ambulances and a medical helicopter to deliver immediate triage. Patrols from the Local Police and the Civil Protection service cordoned off the perimeter and coordinated road access for emergency vehicles entering the parish of Atios. Responders confirmed that all four workers were reached, stabilized, and evacuated from the quarry floor.
Safety protocols and police investigation
The detonation had been scheduled as part of standard quarry operations, but initial reports indicated that the execution timetable was not adhered to properly. Among the four injured workers was the quarry security guard, whose presence in the detonation zone was required under standard protocol for controlled blasting procedures. The Guardia Civil opened a formal investigation to determine the exact procedural errors and technical causes behind the blast. Investigators from the Judicial Police and specialists from the explosives and demining unit conducted extensive checks across the facility to ensure that no unexploded materials remained and that the quarry was entirely secured.
