SA diamond miners trapped in deadly collapseBy BBC | Wednesday, May 23   2012 at  14:15

Three illegal miners in South Africa digging for diamonds have been killed and 15 others remain trapped after some tunnels collapsed, police have said.

Thirty men were in the Bontekou mine in Kleinzee in Northern Cape Province when the accident happened in the early hours of Tuesday.

Police said 11 people had managed to escape and raised the alarm.

The rescue operation has been halted to stabilise the area as loose gravel continues to cave into the tunnels.

The tunnels where the accident occurred were closed by the mine early last month.

A national rescue team has now arrived to help with efforts to free the men, the police in Northern Cape said in an statement.

Kleinzee residents gathered at the mine on Wednesday to wait for news of family and friends trapped underground, the South African Press Association reports.

The body of one of the diggers has been recovered.

Another two bodies are visible, but the unstable conditions are preventing rescue workers from retrieving them, the police said