CNN
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Several hundred people are believed to be in an illegal mine in South Africa with the government refusing to help them in a bid to force them to come to the surface.
Reports varied as to how many miners were in the abandoned gold mine in the North West province. North West police spokesperson Sabata Mokgwabone told The Associated Press that three miners who had come to the surface indicated that up to 4,000 miners could be underground. Other police reports said the number in the mine was in the hundreds.
More than 1,000 miners are reported to have come to the surface over the past few weeks. Reuters reported that food and water supplies had been halted by police.
Spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said a decomposed body was brought to the surface on Thursday, the agency reported, and pathologists were at the mine in Stilfontein.
Police have been escalating a crackdown on illegal mining, which has been a problem in South Africa for decades.
Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said on Wednesday that no help would be given to the illegal miners.
“We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out,” she said.
Police and defence officials are due to visit the scene on Friday. A police statement said the intention was to “reinforce the government’s commitment to bringing this operation to a safe and lawful conclusion.”
Illegal gold mining is reported to cost the South African economy hundreds of millions of dollars in lost sales and taxes and royalties, a mining industry body said, according to Reuters.