The South African government has retrieved no fewer than 60 bodies from the shaft of a closed gold mine more than 2 km underground, where an unknown number of men are still feared trapped after a siege in a crackdown on illegal mining.

The siege, which was said to have begun in August at the mine in the town of Stilfontein, about 150 km from Johannesburg, cut off food and water supplies for months in an attempt to force the miners to the surface so that they could be arrested.

It was gathered that authorities on Monday used a metal cage to begin recovering men and bodies from the shaft, in an operation expected to run for days.

“We don’t know exactly how many people are remaining there. We are focusing on getting them, assisting them out,” South African Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said.

According to him, it was difficult to say when all the miners would be brought up, adding that when each one of the miners who are underground went there, no one was counting.

Police, in a statement, said 51 bodies had been retrieved by Tuesday night, following nine the previous day, adding that the 106 survivors pulled from the mine on Tuesday were arrested for illegal mining, swelling the figure of 26 a day earlier.

According to estimates from a mining industry body, for decades, South Africa’s precious metals industry has battled illegal mining, which costs the government and industry hundreds of millions of dollars a year in lost sales, taxes, and royalties.

Daily Post