Rescue operations at the Stilfontein mine in South Africa are being stepped up

Rescue teams in South Africa have stepped up efforts to retrieve survivors and the corpses of illegal miners trapped underground for about two months after one of the industry’s most extraordinary tragedies.

At least 78 bodies and more than 200 survivors have been recovered since Monday after a court ordered the government to facilitate rescue operations at the gold mine.

During a visit on Tuesday, the police and mines ministers were heckled and told to leave by an angry mob that blamed the government for the deaths.

The standoff began in November when the government ordered police to arrest any miner who came to the surface, saying it was determined to end illegal mining.

This story contains video that some people may find disturbing.

Police said more than 1,500 miners surfaced before the rescue operation began, Reuters reports.

However, others remained underground either because they feared arrest or were forced to stay there by gangs that control the mine.

Many mines in South Africa have been abandoned over the past three decades by companies that did not find them economically viable.

Mines are taken over by gangs, often ex-employees, who sell recovered minerals on the black market.

This includes the Stilfontein mine, about 145 km (90 miles) southwest of the country’s largest city, Johannesburg, which has been at the center of government efforts to curb the illegal industry.

A rescue cage is being lowered down a shaft to reach dozens of miners believed to be at least 2km (1.2 miles) underground.

Many of the survivors have been without food and water since November, leaving them weakened. They are currently receiving medical attention.

Authorities say they will be charged with illegal mining, a violation of immigration laws because most of the miners are undocumented migrants from neighboring countries.

“This is a crime against the economy, this is an attack on the economy,” said Mines Minister Gwede Mantashe on Wednesday as he defended the hard line taken against the miners.

South Africa relied heavily on miners from countries such as Lesotho and Mozambique before the industry went into decline.

Unemployment in South Africa is currently more than 30% and many former miners say they have no alternative source of income.