The incident occurred at approximately 12.16 on 4 November at El Salobrar in Pitillas, according to the Government of Navarre. Three workers died in a slurry pit, a confined space used to store livestock excrement and urine, where the atmosphere reportedly had insufficient oxygen. Policía Foral is investigating the workplace accident.
Emergency services sent firefighters from Tafalla and the Technical Rescue Group to the site. The response included a medical team and an advanced life-support ambulance. A medical helicopter and a rescue helicopter were also sent, alongside Foral Police officers from Tafalla and an emergency psychologist.
This is the most serious accident of its type recorded in Spain since April 2003. Four members of the same family died then after inhaling toxic gases at a livestock farm in Los Dolores, Murcia. A separate fatal slurry-pit incident occurred in Navarra in December 2023: a 74-year-old man died at a sheep farm in Leitza, and a second worker was hospitalized.
RUSSPAIN.COM has also reported on a separate fatal incident, the Urda rail crash, where a provisional toll cited 69 deaths, including 16 victims from Andalusia.
