STORY: South African rescuers have hauled up dozens of miners and dead bodies from an abandoned gold mine.

That was according to police on Tuesday after two days of operations at the site in the town of Stilfontein.

Police began laying siege to the mine in August as part of a crackdown on illegal mining.

Authorities have said survivors will face illegal mining and immigration charges.

Here is Mzukisi Jam, a spokesperson at the South African National Civics Organisation.

"Yesterday they told us that about more than 400 people are still stuck down there they still need to be extracted and they also told us that the number of dead bodies is actually more than 100."

Police had previously cut off food and water supplies in an attempt to force the miners to the surface so they could be arrested.

Now, they are retrieving survivors and dead bodies.

Footage issued by a miners' rights group on Monday had shown dozens of corpses and skeletal survivors inside the mine.