(sundaymirror) -- The two British schoolgirls accused of trying to smuggle £300,000 of cocaine out of Africa have both been struck down by malaria.

Yetunde Diya and Yasemin Vatansever, who are both 16, were rushed into hospital after falling ill with fevers and flu-like symptons.

Last night a narcotics officer who has been helping to look after them said: "Both girls have been very unwell - they are weak and listless."

The pair - who each accepted £3,000 and a free holiday in return for "carrying a package" - are being held in squalid conditions in between court appearances.

Their concrete cell is in a narcotics department building surrounded by open sewers - the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes which carry the disease that kills three million people a year.

They are only allowed out for a daily shower, court appearances and - now - weekly trips to the hospital for treatment.

The girls, both students from North London, were arrested at the end of June as they tried to board a British Airways flight in Ghana. They were each carrying a laptop bag with 7lbs of cocaine stashed in secret pockets.

They have both pleaded not guilty to drug smuggling. In July the Sunday Mirror was the first paper to gain access to the girls, who told us: "We have been stitched up. We just want to go home."

The two former friends now barely speak, with Yetunde blaming Yasemin for persuading her to take part.

Their trial is expected to last another fortnight. If found guilty they face up to three years behind bars in Ghana.