“Deeply Shocked”: Town Mourns Over the Deaths of 2 Winemakers, Found Inside Vat of Spanish Wine

(Photo: Daniel Vogel/Unsplash)

In a region known for its Rioja tragedy struck as two local winemakers died inside a vat of wine this past Sunday. The incident occurred at the Crespo Zabala winery in the Basque country of northern Spain. 

The 60-year-old Gerardo Jubera and his brother-in-law, 61-year-old Felix Crespo, were named by local media as those involved in the accident. According to reports, Jubera slipped and fell into the wine vat while checking the fermentation process in a warehouse. Then, Crespo went to help him, but tragedically, both men appeared to be overcome by carbon dioxide fumes. 

Carbon dioxide, along with alcohol, is naturally created during the fermentation process as yeast consumes the sugars present in the grapes. Although this gas is always present in the air, it can be deadly when inhaled in abnormal concentrations. The vats don’t have airflow and because carbon dioxide is heavier than air it lingers even after the vat is opened.   

“It’s something we would all do to save a family member,” said Local Mayor Itziar de Alava Martinez de Icaya, as reported by Daily Mail.

The mayor added that the winemakers were well-known in the town and their deaths have left people in the area “deeply shocked.”

An unidentified 31-year-old man was also affected by the toxic fumes and needed to be airlifted to a hospital in Logrono. 

September is often the beginning of the harvest season for the Iberian Peninsula and is one of the busiest times of the year as wine producers begin to process the year’s grapes. Accidental deaths like this incident have happened before. 

Just two weeks prior, an Italian winemaker in a similar turn of events sadly passed away. The man had also attempted to rescue a colleague who had fallen into a wine vat and inhaled the toxic fumes. 

An investigation into the deaths is underway by the Basque Insititute of Work Safety. 

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