Speaking to the media on Thursday, acting North West police commissioner Patrick Asaneng confirmed there were no illegal miners remaining at the site. The MRS is expected to provide a detailed report to law enforcement and the Department of Minerals and Petroleum Resources.

The recent Stilfontein disaster, claiming 78 lives, has exposed the devastating scale of South Africa's illegal gold mining crisis

In a police crackdown at an illegal gold mine in Stilfontein, South Africa, 78 people died and hundreds were rescued. The GIWUSA labour union has condemned the state's actions as a massacre, while survivors face charges of illegal activity.

Rescuers and volunteers have pulled at least 78 dead miners and more than 160 survivors from an abandoned South African gold mine

South African police have ended a rescue operation at an abandoned gold mine where hundreds of illegal miners were trapped for months and say they believe they have rescued all the survivors and retri

At least 78 people have died after authorities imposed a blockade on an illegal gold mine here, part of a monthslong standoff between prospectors and a government determined to force them to surface—often by cutting off their food and water.

Police said 78 bodies were retrieved in a court-ordered rescue operation, with 246 survivors also pulled out from deep underground since the operation began on Monday.