The death toll of illegal miners at an abandoned gold mine in South Africa rose to 78 on Wednesday, according to a workers union.

The General Industries Workers Union of South Africa (GIWUSA) said in a report shared with Anadolu that nine bodies were retrieved Monday, 51 on Tuesday and 18 on Wednesday from the mine near Stilfonteinin.

GIWUSA said 191 illegal miners were rescued since Monday when the government launched a rescue operation, deploying a crane and a cage to ferry survivors and bodies from underground.

On Monday, 26 were rescued; Tuesday, 106 and on Wednesday 59 were brought to the surface alive.

Late last year, hundreds of illegal miners went into hiding in the mine, 140 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, fearing arrest. Police cut off food and water supplies to force them to the surface.

South African police launched Operation Vala Umgodi, also known as Close the Hole, in December 2023 and arrested more than 13,000 illegal miners.

Illegal mining has been a major issue in South Africa for decades, with dozens of people risking their lives every day to enter disused mines and scrap for remaining precious metals.

Many claim that poverty and unemployment drive them to take the risk. Meanwhile, violent criminal syndicates are thought to control some of the illegal mines.

Officials said the majority of the illegal miners at the Stilfontein mine are migrants from neighboring nations.

On Monday, two grim videos emerged online showing the bodies of trapped illegal miners, including corpses wrapped in makeshift body bags and emaciated men beneath the mine.

There are claims that there could be 109 bodies underground, but government officials have not confirmed those reports. The exact number of illegal miners underground is also currently unknown.

“For days now, we have been receiving footage from underground where the miners are located, which paints a very dire situation,” Mametlwe Sebei, GIWUSA president and a human rights lawyer, told reporters Monday in the town of Stilfontein.

Sebei described what occurred at the mine as a massacre, saying the pile of bodies demonstrates how the government failed them.​​​​​​​