South African authorities have pulled at least 60 bodies from the shaft of a closed gold mine more than 2 km (1.2 miles) underground where an unknown number of men are still feared trapped, following a siege in a crackdown on illegal mining.

A group representing informal miners in South Africa says 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.

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