South African police ended a rescue operation at an abandoned gold mine on Wednesday and said they believe they have brought out all the survivors and retrieved all the bodies after hundreds of miners were trapped for months in one of the country's deepest mines while working illegally.

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.

The South African government has launched a rescue operation at an abandoned gold mine in the country’s North West province, where at least 109 men have died, a group representing the miners said, after local authorities cut off vital supplies in a dramatic bid to crack down on the country’s illegal mining trade.