Rescuers recovered 51 additional bodies from an abandoned gold mine in South Africa on Tuesday, raising the death toll to 60 after nine bodies were retrieved on Monday, the first day of a massive rescue operation.

Rescuers and volunteers have pulled at least 78 dead miners and more than 160 survivors from an abandoned South African gold mine

Arguing that the miners had entered the mine without permission, authorities reportedly cracked down by cutting off their access to food and water.