Dead bodies are seen in videos from a disused shaft

Disturbing videos have emerged showing the dire situation at an abandoned gold mine in South Africa, where dozens of illegal miners have reportedly been living underground for months.

They have been there since police operations against illegal mining began last year across the country.

In one of the videos, which the BBC has not independently verified, corpses can be seen wrapped in makeshift body bags. The second shows the emaciated figures of some still-living miners.

A long-delayed rescue operation, which a court last week ordered the government to facilitate, began on Monday.

This story contains imagery that some people may find disturbing.

Last year, claiming that the miners entered the Stilfontein mine deliberately without permission, the authorities took a hard line, blocking food and water supplies.

In November, a government minister said: “We're going to smoke them out.”

More than 100 of the illegal miners, known locally as “zama zamas”, have reportedly died underground since blasting began at the mine about 145 km (90 miles) southwest of Johannesburg.

However, authorities have not confirmed this figure as it is yet to be “verified by an official source”, a spokesman told the BBC.

Hundreds are believed to still be in the mine, while more than 1,000 have surfaced in the past few months.

In one of the videos released by the union, General Industries Workers of South Africa (Giwusa), dozens of shirtless men can be seen sitting on a dirty floor. Their faces are blurred. Behind the camera, a male voice is heard saying that the men are hungry and need help.

“We're starting to show you the bodies of the dead underground,” he says.

“And that's not all… Do you see people struggling? Please, we need help.”

In the other video, a man says: “It's a famine, people are dying of hunger.” He then put the death toll at 96 and asked for help, food and supplies.

The union says the footage was filmed on Saturday.

At a briefing held on Monday near the site of the rescue operation, Giwusa management, along with community representatives, said the videos shared “paint a very dire picture” of the situation underground.

“What happened here should be called what it is; this is the Stilfontein Massacre. Because what this footage does is show a pile of human bodies, of miners who died needlessly,” said Giwusa president Mametlwe Sebei.

He accused the authorities of what he described as a “treacherous policy” being pursued deliberately.

The Department of Mineral Resources, which is leading the rescue effort, told the BBC that Monday's operation involved lowering a cage, which was then raised after being loaded with people.

This structure is designed to hold six or seven people, depending on their weight, according to Giwusa. It went down the shaft – about 2 km down – every hour. The union said that by the end of Monday, 26 miners had been pulled out alive, along with nine bodies.

Ministry of Mineral Resources spokesperson Mahosonke Buthelezi could not confirm whether the priority would be to retrieve the deceased or those in need of medical attention.

A briefing will be held by the department in conjunction with the Ministry of Police on Tuesday to provide an update on the operation.