78 Bodies Pulled From South Africa Gold Mine, With Hundreds More Believed Trapped

Food and other supplies were cut off to those inside the mine by local authorities who want the miners to surrender to police because they were mining illegally.

STILFONTEIN, South Africa (AP) — Rescuers and volunteers have pulled at least 78 dead miners and more than 160 survivors from an abandoned South African gold mine, where they have languished for over two months during a standoff with authorities who demanded they surrender to police because they were mining illegally.

Hundreds are still believed to be trapped Wednesday and the death toll is expected to rise in a disaster that has focused criticism on the South African government’s decision to try to “smoke them out” by cutting off food and other supplies for a time. Civic groups claim authorities also removed the ropes and pulley systems that the miners used to enter and exit at least one shaft and send down supplies.

The groups say the government’s weekslong refusal to stage a rescue effectively left scores of miners to die of starvation or dehydration. A rescue is now underway — after a court order — but only a few miners can be pulled up at a time, and the operation could take 10 days.

South African authorities have argued that the miners were always able to exit through another shaft at Buffelsfontein Gold Mine, one of the deepest in the mineral-rich country.

But activists said that would involve a dangerous trek underground that could take days for some, and many became too weak or ill after months underground with little food and water. Police contend some miners refused to come out.