78 illegal miners dead in South Africa crackdown

At least 78 illegal miners have been pulled out dead from a South African mine where police blocked food and water supplies for months in what trade unions described as a "horrific" state crackdown on desperate people trying to eke out a living.

A total of 78 bodies and 166 survivors - some of them emaciated and disorientated - have been hauled out so far in a court-ordered rescue operation that began, with hundreds more men still stuck 2 km below the surface in a gold mine at Stilfontein, southwest of Johannesburg.

Police had stopped food and water supplies from being taken into the mine since August until a court ruled in December that volunteers could send down essential aid for the miners, known locally as "zama zamas."

"Our mandate was to combat criminality and that is exactly what we've been doing," said Athlenda Mathe, national spokesperson for the South African police, speaking at the site.

"By providing food, water and necessities to these illegal miners it would be the police entertaining and allowing criminality to thrive," she said.

The death toll makes the crackdown on the Stilfontein mine one of the deadliest on miners in recent South African history. As the toll has mounted, so has criticism of the police and of the government, which says the siege was part of a much-needed crackdown on illegal mining.

All 166 of the survivors rescued so far were immediately arrested and charged with criminal offenses including illegal immigration, trespassing and illegal mining, police said. None were hospitalized and all were taken into police custody.

Illegal mining has been a major issue in South Africa for decades, with dozens of people risking their lives every day to enter disused mines and scrap for remaining precious metals.

Many claim that poverty and unemployment drive them to take the risk. Meanwhile, violent criminal syndicates are thought to control some of the illegal mines.

Officials said the majority of the illegal miners at the Stilfontein mine are migrants from neighboring nations.