Dozens rescued, bodies pulled from S. Africa mining pit

Stilfontein, South Africa: More than two dozen illegal miners have been rescued and at least nine bodies recovered from an abandoned gold mine in Sout...

Stilfontein, South Africa: More than two dozen illegal miners have been rescued and at least nine bodies recovered from an abandoned gold mine in South Africa, as rescue operations resumed Tuesday to reach potentially dozens more people underground.

A professional mine rescue company on Monday sent a large cage to retrieve men at the site near Stilfontein, about 140 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of Johannesburg.

Thousands of illegal miners, many of them hailing from other countries, are said to operate in abandoned mine shafts across mineral-rich South Africa.

In November, authorities launched a crackdown to dislodge the clandestine miners from the Stilfontein shaft, and it is not clear how many people remain, with police saying there could still be hundreds of people underground.

Community leader Johannes Qankase told AFP on Tuesday that 26 people had been rescued and nine bodies recovered the previous day at the Stilfontein site.