South African rescue workers have recovered 78 bodies from a disused gold mine in Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg, following a months-long standoff between illegal miners and authorities, Bloomberg reports.
The grim discovery comes as the authorities conduct the final phase of an operation to remove an unknown number of individuals who had been extracting gold illegally within the mine.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) confirmed in a statement on Wednesday that 246 people were found alive inside the mine. The operation began in October, aimed at forcing the illegal miners to the surface, with over 1,500 having already been detained after exiting the mine.
The situation has drawn sharp criticism from civil rights groups, who allege that at least 100 of the deaths resulted from starvation. These groups claim that security forces sealed off the mine, denying those underground access to food in an attempt to force them out.
The SAPS plans to lower a cage into one of the mine’s shafts on Thursday to confirm reports from community volunteers that there are no more illegal miners remaining underground. This final verification, as reported by the state-owned South African Broadcasting Corp., will mark the end of the intense operation.
