An estimated 4,000 illegal gold miners are hiding underground in South Africa after the government cut off food and water in an effort to "smoke them out" and arrest them. The miners have been in a mineshaft in Stilfontein, in the North West province, for about a month.

South African authorities are engaged in a standoff with hundreds of illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country's North West province, having cut off their food and water supplies as part of a strategy to "smoke them out". The miners in Stilfontein ...

The South African government will not assist illegal miners trapped in a closed mine, denying them basic supplies as part of a crackdown on illegal mining.

Several hundred people are believed to remain in an illegal mine in South Africa after the government cut off vital supplies and refused to help them, in a dramatic bid to crack down on the industry.

South Africa’s government says it will not help about 4,000 illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country’s North West province as part of an official policy against illegal mining.

Police closed off the entrances for moving supplies underground, cutting off miners’ supplies to force them to resurface for arrest.

South Africa’s government says it will not help a group of illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country’s North West province as part of an official policy against illegal mining

South Africa's government says it will let thousands of illegal miners starve until they accept their fate and emerge from an abandoned shaft to face arrest.

South Africa's government says it will not help an estimated 4,000 illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country's North West province who have been denied access to basic supplies as part of an official strategy against illegal mining.