30 evacuated during fire at Sweden`s oldest mine

Stockholm: An official says a fire in Sweden`s oldest mine has forced the evacuation of 30 workers.

Rescue services spokesman Lars Westerfors says the fire broke out Sunday about 800 meters (2,625 feet) underground at the Garpenberg ore mine, east of the city of Borlange in central Sweden. He says the blaze trapped four miners in a safety chamber, but they were rescued by firefighters. The other 26 miners were quickly evacuated from another location. The fire was then put out. Marcela Sylvander, spokeswoman of the company Boliden that owns the mine, said no one was injured. It was unclear what caused the fire or when the mining of zinc, copper, lead, gold and silver can resume at Garpenberg, which dates back to the 13th century. PTI