Dozens of survivors, dead pulled from abandoned South African mine as hundreds remain underground

STILFONTEIN, South Africa (AP) — Months after South African authorities initially cut off supplies to miners working illegally in an abandoned gold mine, rescuers brought dozens of bodies and emaciated survivors to the surface Tuesday with hundreds more still believed to be underground, many of them dead and others too weak to come out on their own.At least 60 bodies and 92 survivors had been pulled from one of South Africa’s deepest mines since Monday in a red cagelike device lowered thousands of feet underground, police said.Police are uncertain how many miners remain inside but said it is likely in the hundreds.

Another nine bodies were brought out Friday in a community-led rescue effort, according to a group representing the miners.The mine has been the scene of a tense standoff between police, miners and members of the local community since authorities launched an operation in November to force the miners out by cutting off food and water from the surface for a period of time.At the time, a Cabinet minister said the aim was to “smoke them out” and the government would not send help because they were “criminals.”But that tactic has been fiercely criticized by civic groups and the community, and the South African government is under scrutiny for the way it has dealt with the issue at the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine, where more than 100 miners are believed to have died underground of starvation or dehydration, according to the group representing them.Authorities, who removed the ropes and pulley system miners used to enter and to lower supplies, say the survivors are able to come out but refuse to because of fear of arrest.

That has been disputed by the civic groups, which won a court case to force authorities to allow food, water and medicine to be sent down to the miners.But they say the supplies aren’t enough and many of the miners are dying of starvation and unable to climb out because the shaft is too steep.Residents desperately waiting for news...