South African rescuers have so far pulled 78 bodies and rescued 166 people from the Stilfontein gold mine over three days of operations, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe told reporters at the scene on Wednesday.

The South African government faces criticism over the deaths of at least 60 unlicenced miners trapped during a police siege at a Stilfontein gold mine. As the rescue mission continues, 132 survivors have already been arrested,

Hundreds are still trapped at the Stilfontein gold mine, a rights group said. Authorities tried to flush out the miners by depriving them of food and water.

One hundred and eighteen illegal miners have been extracted from the Stilfontein mine in South Africa on Monday and Tuesday as part of a rescue operation, of which 36 were certified as dead, police said in a statement on Tuesday.

In South Africa, authorities have retrieved at least 60 bodies from the Stilfontein gold mine following a siege aimed at curbing illegal mining. The operation, which has arrested survivors for illegal activities,

Rescued miners are seen as they are processed by police after being rescued at the mine shaft where rescue operations are ongoing as attempts are made to rescue illegal miners who have been underground for months,

Rescuers are sending a cage-like structure into one of South Africa’s deepest mines in an attempt to bring out survivors among hundreds of illegal miners trapped for months in an abandoned shaft