Police say it is a “huge task” to identify the bodies

Identifying the bodies recovered from an abandoned mine in South Africa this week will be a “huge task”, a police spokesman said.

Brigadier General Athlinda Mathie told reporters near the top of the mine shaft in Stilfontein that 78 bodies, along with more than 240 illegal miners, had been brought to the surface since Monday as part of the rescue operation.

They have been underground since at least November.

This happened when the authorities intensified their efforts to put an end to illegal mining activities by blockading the shaft entrance and refusing to allow food and water access.

The police always said the miners were free to go out at any time.

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Police say the mine has now been cleared of bodies and survivors.

Brigadier Mathie said only two of the dead had been positively identified so far.

She added, “Some (of the bodies) were decomposed bodies and mostly appeared in the form of bones.”

She added that DNA tests are being conducted, but another challenge to identification is that “the majority (of those found) are illegal immigrants.” Their families may not be aware that they were down the mine shaft in the first place.

The vast majority of those who emerged alive were from neighboring countries such as Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

A labor union and human rights activists accused the authorities of supervising a massacre.

But police defended their actions, saying they were dealing with criminality and that gang leaders responsible for illegal mining were controlling the flow of supplies and trying to prevent people from showing up again.

During Tuesday's visit, police and mines ministers were insulted and asked to leave by an angry crowd that blamed the government for the deaths.

Police said more than 1,500 miners reached the surface before the rescue operation began.

However, others remained underground, either for fear of arrest or being forced to remain there because of the gangs controlling the mine.

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

The mines have been taken over by gangs, often former employees, who sell the minerals they find on the black market.

This includes the mine in Stilfontein, about 145 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, the country's largest city, which has been the focus of government efforts to crack down on the illegal industry.

The rescue cage was making trips down the shaft to reach the miners who were believed to be at least 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) underground.

Many survivors have been without food and water since November, leaving them emaciated. They are now receiving medical care.

Authorities say they will be charged with illegal mining, trespassing and violating immigration laws, because the majority of miners are illegal immigrants.

“It is a crime against the economy, it is an attack on the economy,” Mines Minister Gwede Mantashe said on Wednesday in defense of the hardline stance against miners.

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

Unemployment in South Africa currently stands at more than 30% and many former miners say they have few alternative sources of income.