URGENT -- Mine incident traps more than 200 workers near Johannesburg

USPA News - More than 200 illegal miners are believed to be trapped underground at a mine near Johannesburg in the northeastern region of South Africa, emergency services said on Sunday. It was not immediately clear if anyone was injured.

Werner Vermaak, a spokesman for ambulance service ER24, said emergency services were at the scene of a previously abandoned mine in Benoni, a city on the East Rand in Gauteng province. He said emergency services had received a call earlier on Sunday morning that people were trapped underground. "In the first emergency briefing it was identified that approximately 30 people are trapped towards the top of the old shaft and the rest down a steep tunnel," Vermaak said. "Emergency rescue services are waiting for mine rescue services to assist. At this stage we are not sure how many miners are injured. Once they are freed medical workers will start to assess them and proved treatment where necessary." Other details were not immediately available.