Mine cracks will force 6,000 more people to move in Sweden’s Arctic city of Kiruna
- Two-thirds of Kiruna’s population will now need to move, it was announced Thursday, as cracks in the ground due to the iron ore mine underneath the town have spread farther than first thought, meaning another 6,000 residents will have to move within the next decade.
- Vice chair of the local council’s executive board, Niklas Sirén from the Social Democratic party says: “For the municipality, we’re at a threshold. We pushed ourselves to the limit of what we can do with our finances.”
- He also says the residents are reacting to Thursday’s news with mixed feelings, from disappointment to relief, but most are tired of living on a construction site. The mine is one of the biggest employers in the town.
For more on the shocking new numbers of people required to move in Kiruna, listen to Radio Sweden's full report:
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This story is posted on the Barents Observer as part of Eye on the Arctic, a collaborative partnership between public and private circumpolar media organizations.
