South African authorities have ome under intense scrutiny for their response after civic groups said hundreds of miners have been trapped deep in an abandoned gold mine for months

A rescue mission is underway for the hundreds of illegal miners thought to still be underground in a disused shaft in South Africa

No more illegal miners are believed to be trapped underground at a gold mine in South Africa, volunteers working with rescue teams have said.

A group representing informal miners in South Africa says at least 100 men who were mining illegally in an abandoned gold mine have died after being trapped deep underground for months while police tried to get them out.

Footage provided by illegal miners who escaped weeks of being trapped underground after a police raid showed dozens of dead bodies and other miners clinging to life with ribs showing from lack of food or water.