Rescue operations ongoing for trapped miners

South African police and military personnel said rescue operations for miners trapped underground were underway.

Concerns have been mounting over the well-being of the hundreds of illegal miners believed to be stuck in a disused mine shaft more than a mile below the surface.

More than 1,000 miners have already resurfaced and at least one dead body has been brought up in recent weeks as the police have cracked down.

Authorities had blocked supplies of food and water to force them out and arrest them for illegally entering the abandoned mine in search of leftover gold.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the force stood by its strategy.

"We are still stamping the authority of the state. Our mandate is clear, it is to prevent and combat crime and we are still of the view that what is happening down there is pure criminality. The rescue mission continues, and we know that this particular rescue mission, phase one of it, is being conducted, where they are clearing the site and assessing the situation underground."

Organizations representing those remaining in the Stilfontein mine say the miners are willing to come out, but police operations are prolonging their extraction.

Zwelinzima Vavi is General Secretary of the South African Federation of Trade Unions.

"The interpretation of the court order to say, no non-rescue person can go in there, actually now means without the state intervention through its own rescue mission, the miners underground are now being subjected to a slow death."

Illegal mining has thrived in South Africa through small-time pilfering and organized criminal networks, costing the economy billions of rands in lost income and royalties.