Six bodies have been recovered as the rescue continues

Six more bodies were pulled from a South African mine as efforts continued for a second day to help dozens of illegal miners believed to be still at least 2 km (1.2 miles) underground, a national health authority said. Sanco NGO umbrella. The BBC.

Eight people emerged alive on Tuesday, adding to the 26 rescued on Monday, after being hoisted into the mine's disused shaft in a cage operated by a crane on the surface. Nine bodies were recovered on Monday.

The men have been underground since police operations against illegal mining began last year across the country.

Last week, a court ordered the government to facilitate the long-delayed rescue operation.

This story contains video 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 the crackdown 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.

Disturbing videos emerged on Monday showing the dire situation at the disused gold mine.

In one of the films, 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.

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 a union, the 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. He went down the shaft every hour.