Six die in Canary Islands tunnel

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Six people have been killed exploring a tunnel on the Spanish island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, local officials have said.

The six probably died from a lack of oxygen in the tunnel, authorities said.

A group of 30 people, including scientists, went into the Los Silos tunnel system on Saturday and became lost when they took a wrong turn.

One of the group managed to escape and alerted authorities who rescued the other 23 survivors of the group.

To recover the bodies the emergency services said they needed to use oxygen tanks.

Among the tunnel explorers were scientists from the Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute and members of the Tenerife Friends of Nature Association.

The tunnels were dug 200 years ago in an attempt to find water.

The Canary Islands are in the Atlantic Ocean south-west of Spain, off the coast of Africa.