Fire traps miners underground for hours in Snow Lake, Man.

Miners workingat a northern Manitoba mine were trapped underground for hours Wednesday due to a fire.

A piece of equipment caught fire underground at the Lalor Mine in Snow Lake, Man., on Wednesday, according to a statement fromHudbayWednesday night shortly before 11 p.m.

The company said the fire has been extinguished, and that all workers are accounted for and in the process of being transported to the surface. Hudbaysaid it expects all employees will be out of the mine by midnight.

"Our mine safety protocols were quickly activated and our mine rescue teams responded in a timely manner to remedy the situation," the company said in a statement. "We expect normal operations to resume within 24 hours."

Snow Lake Mayor Peter Roberts said miners were stuck in a fire refuge station underground for hours.

"It didn't sound urgent when I was last updated, that was about three hours ago," he told CBC News shortly before 9 p.m.

He said he doesn't know how many workers were trapped, though Roberts said he knows somepersonally.

David Fenster said he received a text from a friend who works in the mine saying he and his co-workers were trapped underground at a rescue stationsince around noon.

"He's texting me how they're all freaking out," Fenster told CBC News shortly before 9 p.m.

Snow Lake is 118 kilometres east of Flin Flon, Man., and 589 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.