The mine has been the scene of a tense standoff between police and miners since authorities launched an operation to force the miners out by cutting off food and water from the surface.

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

Rescuers pull survivors from South Africa mine as hundreds remain trapped - Police say that at least 36 bodies and 82 survivors have been brought out of the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine since Friday,