Death toll at illegal South African mine reaches 78

Johannesburg: Rescuers pulled more bodies from a disused gold shaft in South Africa where the death toll climbed to 78 Wednesday as police finished cl...

Johannesburg: Rescuers pulled more bodies from a disused gold shaft in South Africa where the death toll climbed to 78 Wednesday as police finished clearing out illegal miners who had been underground for months.

Authorities began trying to remove the bodies and bring up survivors on Monday, after residents voiced fears that more than 100 people may have died in the mine in Stilfontein, about 140 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of Johannesburg.

At least 246 people have emerged alive in the first three days of the operation while 78 bodies were retrieved, police said in a statement, with the rescuers expecting to wrap up their efforts on Thursday.

The South African authorities have been locked in a months-long standoff with the holed-up miners, having at one point tried cutting off food and water supplies to force them out.

That strategy has seen the police accused of causing the death of some of the miners, called "zama zamas" -- "those who try" in the Zulu language. They are often migrants from neighbouring countries, accused by residents of criminality.