<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>At least 20 employees of mining giant De Beers have been killed in a road accident in South Africa, local officials said Sunday.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The bus involved was ferrying staff from the Venetia mine, one of the biggest diamond mines in the country, said a transport official in Limpopo province, in the north of the country.</div><div><br></div><div>"The bus came into collision with a lorry," said Vongani Chauke.</div><div><br></div><div>Chauke told AFP the accident happened at around 1600 GMT, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) from the mine, at the village of Musian on the border with Zimbabwe.</div><div><br></div><div>The cause of the accident has not been established.</div><div><br></div><div>South Africa has one of the most developed road networks on the continent, but also has one of the worst road safety records.</div><div><br></div><div>The Venetia mine, which lies near the borders with Botswana and Zimbabwe, has been run by the De Beers group for more than 30 years.</div><div><br></div><div>It accounts for more thatn 40 percent of the country's annual diamond production, employing more than 4,300 staff including many local people.</div><div><br></div><div>It was once the country's largest open-cast mine, before De Beers invested $2 billion in a major underground project to access the less easily available diamonds . The group aims to produce four million carats a year.</div><div><br></div><div>In July, De Beers announced the start of underground diamond production from the new seams opened underneath the open-cast mine. According to AFP reports&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>