A miner who spent six months in a disused mine in South Africa has spoken of the horror he experienced after a police operation cut off food and basic supplies to thousands who were illegally digging for gold.

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.

Police say the death toll in a monthslong standoff between authorities and miners trapped while working illegally underground at an abandoned gold mine in South Africa has risen to at least 87

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing calls to order a national inquiry into a police operation that was meant to combat illegal mining but ended up leaving 87 miners to die underground as authorities attempted to force them to surrender during a monthslong standoff.

By Siyabonga Sishi and Nellie Peyton STILFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) - South African rescuers were making final efforts on Thursday to ascertain whether anyone was left in an illegal gold mine deep underground where at least 78 people died during a police siege,

Rescue teams in South Africa have stepped up efforts to pull out survivors and the corpses of illegal miners trapped underground for about two months, following one of the most extraordinary tragedies to hit the industry.

The miners are suspected to have died of starvation and dehydration, although no causes of death have been released.

South African police lowered a camera down more than a mile (1.5 km) underground into an illegal gold mine on Thursday to ascertain if any survivors or corpses were still there after a months-long siege by authorities in which at least 78 miners died.