First responders pulled dozens of bodies and hundreds of emaciated survivors from an abandoned gold mine this week, bringing a grisly end to a months-long standoff with illegal miners and their families.

The prospectors were trapped underground for months as police, on orders from South Africa’s government, attempted to starve them out.

Rescuers continued retrieving bodies Wednesday from an abandoned South African gold mine with hundreds more still believed to be underground, many of them dead and others too weak to come out on their own.

South African authorities have ome under intense scrutiny for their response after civic groups said hundreds of miners have been trapped deep in an abandoned gold mine for months

At least 100 illegal miners have died of suspected starvation and dehydration after being trapped underground for months in an abandoned gold mine in North

Residents desperately waiting for news of family members gathered at the mine, some holding placards criticizing authorities for their response.

Authorities launched an operation in November to force the illegally operating miners out by cutting off food and water from the surface for a time. Hundreds are thought to remain underground.

South African rescuers have so far pulled 78 bodies and rescued 166 people from the Stilfontein gold mine over three days of operations, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe told reporters at the scene on Wednesday.