The alarm about the fire came at 8 pm on Wednesday.
- It is a transformer that has caught fire at a depth of 880 metres.
It is extinguished now but there is a lot of smoke development down there, says Nils Westlien, on-duty rescue manager.
According to the emergency services, the course of the accident was relatively undramatic.
No one is injured.
- You have to respect mine fires, because there are long distances and a lot of smoke that spreads down there.
But at the same time, when a fire starts in a mine, you know where to go, there are rescue chambers at regular intervals, says Westlien.
Some of the miners made it down one floor of the mine, but the vast majority have hidden in escape chambers – safe rooms with air for several hours and radio contact with the control room located at ground level.
They begin to be evacuated at 11 p.m. and must be checked by paramedics.
Emergency services personnel are on site and will remain for some time into the night.
- We have started ventilation down in the mine and are in the process of ventilating out.