The miners are suspected to have died of starvation and dehydration, although no causes of death have been released.

South African authorities have ome under intense scrutiny for their response after civic groups said hundreds of miners have been trapped deep in an abandoned gold mine for months

No more illegal miners are believed to be trapped underground at a gold mine in South Africa, volunteers working with rescue teams have said.

A group representing informal miners in South Africa says at least 100 men who were mining illegally in an abandoned gold mine have died after being trapped deep underground for months while police tried to get them out.

The clampdown on illegal mining cut off food and water to hundreds of miners underground. At least 78 bodies were pulled from a mining shaft this week, and more are believed to remain underground.

Rescuers and volunteers have pulled at least 78 dead miners and more than 160 survivors from an abandoned South African gold mine.

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.