Seventy-eight bodies of illegal miners were recovered from a mine in South Africa.

Another 246 were rescued alive, with several in a state of severe exhaustion and disorientation. All of them were immediately arrested for illegal migration and gold mining. None were hospitalized, human rights activists report.

Some miners had been underground since July, with supplies of water and food being replenished from the surface. It is noted that most were from Mozambique and lacked documentation. In August, South African authorities decided to force the workers out by cutting off their access to essential goods.

"By providing food, water, and basic necessities to illegal miners, the police are entertaining themselves and allowing crime to thrive," said South African police representative Atlhenda Mate at the mine.

According to police reports, over one and a half thousand prospectors surfaced on their own over a five-month period. All were arrested, with 121 already deported.

The state has allowed miners to "starve to death in the depths of the earth," stated the South African Federation of Trade Unions. Several more workers died trying to crawl through flooded tunnels to reach other mines in order to escape to the surface, the organization added.

The second-largest faction in the ruling coalition, the "Democratic Alliance," declared that the repression at the mine has "spiraled out of control" and called for an independent investigation.