His situation was aggravated at Salina Praid. The suffocations joined and hundreds of cubic meters of rock collapsed

The situation at Salina Praid has worsened in the last hours, given that all the suffositories on the north-south alignment were united, about 700 cubic meters of rock collapsed and large cracks appeared on the technological road and in the forest.

Disaster from Salina Praid Photo: Inquam Photos

The paricipants at the operative meeting on June 13, involved in managing the emergency situation in Salina Praid, concluded that, between June 12, at 18.00-June 13, at 5.40, in terms of the stability of the perimeter, all the suffs on the north-south alignment were united, about 700 cubic meters, inform Harghita Prefecture, according to News.

According to the quoted source, the collapses train the water on the surface, and large volumes of water with large salinity come to the surface and flow to the stream, so it is important to deviate the stream into the corrugated pipes.

The suffocation from the DOZSA well has increased in the last three days from 14 centimeters to 120 centimeters, the source mentioned.

“The representatives of the National Administration” Romanian Waters “(ANAR0 have requested to make a location to install two large capacity pumps to take over the current flow of the stream and transit over the affected area, to be able to facilitate the activities of the land for the installation of the corrugate pipes”, The Harghita Prefecture specifies.

The same source informs that Salrom has acquired a drone that will ensure the collection of data from the field and their interpretation by saline geologists.

The specialists believe that at this moment it is not necessary to expand the escape area, but that the evacuated population will be able to return to housing only after the commissioning of the new monitoring systems, the collection of additional data and the establishment of the automatic alert thresholds.

Pumping water from the mine cannot start

Also, it is the conclusion of the operative tedis on Friday, the pumping water in the mine can only begin after the permanent deviation of the Corund stream.

At the same time, Salrom and the builder involved were supplied with 547 tonnes of broken stone and perform works to excavate and support the protection dam in the area where the stream was diverted, to protect the capture.

“At the bottom of the site (downstream area), there is continued works to carry out the technological road/intermediate layer intended for the positioning and mounting of the corrugated pipes. Due to the daily appearance of cracks and suffs on the technological road, the restoration and maintenance works have been executed, consisting of the filing of the road, in the most affected.”, The quoted source says.

Following the technical monitoring, the specialists found that the salinity measured during the day was, in the coastal gallery, decreasing from 275.5 g/l to 269.6 g/l, and in the mine Joseph, also decreasing from 263.3 g/l to 259.2 g/l. At the same time, the water temperature is constant, and the methane in the coastal gallery has a constant value of 0.22%.

Also, ANAR specialists ensure the monitoring of conductivity on the Corund stream and on the Târnava Mică river and have maneuvers to the permanent accumulations held by the “Romanian waters” and Hidroelectrica, to supplement the flows on the water courses affected by the increase of the conductivity/chlorides on the Corund stream, the additional flow of 48 mc.

According to the hydrological monitoring, there were decreases in the flows on the Corund stream, on Thursday, from 0.8 to 0.5 cubic/s, with no rainfall.

The conductivity measured on the Corund stream at the confluence with Târnava Mică is 19.82 mc/cm, and the parameters are permanently monitored, informs the Harghita Prefecture.

For the safety of the population, the temporary evacuation is maintained for at least 20 days, and the riverists can have access during the day, for short periods, for current activities. The area is supervised by fixed gendarmes and mobile patrols of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, mentions the same source.

Defense parapets are maintained on the alignment of the Corund stream

Since the beginning of May, the authorities are trying to stabilize the situation in the Salinei Praid area. According to DSU chief, Raed Arafat, the first massive infiltration of the waters of the Corund stream in Salina Praid took place on February 20, 2023, against the background of rain and snow melting, when the infiltration of water in the mine was stopped in 24 hours. The water was eliminated from the saline in the month that followed, and the affected area of ​​the water of the Corund stream was concrete.

On April 18, 2024, the waters infiltrated again in the praid saline, under a dam, and at that time measures were taken to deviate the water and to stop suffering. Subsequently, it was decided to carry out a technical expertise of the saline, completed in the summer of last year.

On May 5, 2025, the third massive infiltration began, when a bypass built in 2024 did not cope, and the water entered the underground. Two days later, it was decided to declare the alert state, to inform the population and to prohibit the access of citizens in the affected area, subsequently prolonged warning.

In the middle of May, the County Committee for Emergency Situations Harghita gave authorizations and opinions for the construction of a water deflection channel, but on May 27, the water flow from the Corund stream exceeded 60 cubic meters per second, which led to the dissolution of a part of the stream and the water.

The following day, the authorities decided to make two concrete dams underground, to prevent flooding, but they gave up under the pressure of the water, and until the evening of May 28 was completely flooded.

According to the Minister of Economy, at present, seven underground levels of the new mine in Praid are completely flooded, including the two floors that were in the tourist circuit. Bogdan Ivan mentioned that from the preliminary data it turned out that it will not occur, “In the darkest scenario”one “Catacismic event”but o “Partial surpass” of the old mine.

At Praid, eight international experts who, together with the Romanian specialists arrive, seek solutions for stabilizing the area and trying to rescue saline.

Minister Ivan also stated that the most likely location was found to create a salted lake with the water removed from the flooded saline, but that the expertise of the European specialists is expected.