ACCRA, - Twelve illegal gold diggers were killed when a landslide trapped them in a pit at night, police said on Thursday.

The accident happened on Wednesday near the mining town of Tarkwa, 320 km (200 miles) west of Accra as the bounty hunters dug away after the regular miners went home for the day.

A police officer said other illegal miners in the area raised the alarm and villagers rushed to the rescue of the trapped men.

``In all 12 bodies have been recovered out of which nine have been identified,'' he said. Reuters