Police closed off the entrances for moving supplies underground, cutting off miners’ supplies to force them to resurface for arrest.

Some 4,000 miners believed to be suffering from lack of food and water in move by authorities to force them to surface and face arrest

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.

Illegal mining continues to be widespread in South Africa, where miners enter abandoned shafts to search for remaining deposits.

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's government says it will not help about 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 African authorities are blocking food and water for an estimated 4,000 people who are underground in an illegal mine.

The South African government has announced it will not assist approximately 4,000 illegal miners trapped in a closed mine in the North West province. This decision aligns with the government’s official policy against illegal mining.

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