A body was brought out of an abandoned South African gold mine as police tried to evict hundreds of illegal miners hiding out in the workings.

The miners have been in a mineshaft in Stilfontein, in the North West province, for about a month. They have refused to cooperate with authorities as some are undocumented - coming from neighbouring countries like Lesotho and Mozambique - and fear being ...

South Africa’s government says it will not help an estimated 4,000 illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country’s North West province as part of an official policy against illegal mining

South Africa's government says it will let thousands of illegal miners starve until they accept their fate and emerge from an abandoned shaft to face arrest.

Officials are hoping the strategy will force the workers out of the mineshaft and to the surface, where they will be arrested.

South African police and ambulances were at the site Thursday of an old gold mine shaft where around 4,000 illegal miners were claimed to be underground, facing arrest if they surface.

South African authorities are blocking food and water for an estimated 4,000 people who are underground in an illegal mine.

Up to 4,000 illegal miners are estimated to be underground in an abandoned mine while South African authorities try to clear them out and arrest them. View on euronews