By Nellie Peyton and Bhargav Acharya STILFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) -At least 78 dead bodies have been pulled from an illegal gold mine in South Africa where police cut off food and water supplies for months,

Hundreds are still trapped at the Stilfontein gold mine, a rights group said. Authorities tried to flush out the miners by depriving them of food and water.

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