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The bodies of two illegal miners have been brought to the surface of a collapsed mine near Kleinzee in the Northern Cape.
Police spokesperson, Captain Cherelle Ehlers, says 16 men remain trapped about 500 metres underground.
Rescuers do not know if they are dead or alive.
She says a national rescue team has been dispatched to help with the rescue.
One miner was freed from the rubble late Wednesday.
Ehlers says rescue efforts are being hampered by loose gravel and, as fast as rescuers dig, the hole caves in.
The disused tunnels where the illegal miners were digging for diamonds were part of the Bontekou mine and were closed in April.
