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Ten miners trapped in burning mine

UPDATED: Order has been restored at a mine in northern Sweden after a fire broke out on Tuesday morning, trapping ten miners over one kilometre underground.

Ten miners trapped in burning mine
A track in Kiruna mine at an earlier date. Photo: Per Larsson/TT

A truck started burning in a Kiruna mine on Tuesday morning, 1,300 metres under the surface.

Emergency rescue services were alerted to the fire at 8:30am , after the driver had unsuccessfully tried to extinguish the flames.

Extreme amounts of smoke complicated the rescue operation, making workers unsure whether or not the fire is still burning. 

By 10.40am, order was restored, the fire was extinguished, and work was able to be carried on as usual.

Mine spokeswoman Johanna Fogman said that no one was injured and the air "seemed fine".

The mine is the key production site of LKAB (Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag), which provides 90 percent of iron ore in the EU.

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