The number of fatalities from a nearly month-long standoff between police and miners trapped while working illegally in an abandoned gold mine in South Africa has risen to at least 87, police said on Thursday.
Authorities are facing growing anger and a potential investigation over their initial refusal to assist the miners. Instead, authorities decided to force them out by cutting off their food supply.
National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said that 78 bodies were recovered in a court-ordered rescue operation, with 246 survivors pulled from the underground since the operation began on Monday.
Mathe stated that nine additional bodies were recovered before the rescue operation, without providing further details.
Community organizations initiated their own rescue efforts when authorities stated last year that they would not help the hundreds of miners because they were considered “criminals.”
The miners are believed to have died from hunger and dehydration, although the exact causes of death remain unknown.
South African authorities have been harshly criticized for halting the food and supply deliveries to the miners at the Buffelsfontein gold mine last year. The tactic of forcing them to emerge was condemned by one of South Africa’s largest unions, reports VOA.
Police and mine owners were also accused of removing ropes and dismantling a “elevator” system that miners used to enter the mine and send supplies from the surface.
A court had ordered authorities last year to allow the delivery of food and water to the miners, and another court ruling last week ordered them to begin a rescue operation.
