At least 100 people reportedly dead in illegal South African goldmine as rescues continue

Six more bodies have been recovered from an illegal gold mine in South Africa, where scores of people have reportedly died underground since authorities tried to force them out and seal the mine in November.

Eight people were rescued alive on Tuesday and 26 were recovered on Monday.

Over 100 people who were illegally mining in the abandoned mine have reportedly died since the crackdown began, a group representing the miners told British broadcaster Sky News. Arguing that the miners had entered without permission, the crackdown involved authorities cutting off their access to food and water.

Last week, the government was ordered by a court to facilitate a rescue operation.

Videos that appear to have been taken on mobile phones inside the mine and brought to the surface by those being rescued show what appear to be emaciated people and corpses wrapped in makeshift body bags.

The General Industries Workers of South Africa, a trade union also known as “Giwusa,” released one video that shows dozens of men sitting on a floor with a voice off camera saying they’re hungry and need help.

“We’re starting to show you the bodies of those who died underground,” said the voice in the video. “And this is not all of them. … Do you see how people are struggling? Please – we need help.”

In a briefing on Monday, Giwusa leaders called the situation in the mine a “massacre.”

“What this footage does is show a pile of human bodies, of miners that died needlessly,” Giwusa president Mametlwe Sebei said.

South Africa’s department of mineral resources said the rescue operation on Monday involved lowering a cage into the mine that is designed to hold six or seven people. It said the cage has been going up and down the shaft every hour.