AT LEAST 100 illegal miners have died after becoming trapped in a South African gold mine for months on end.

They had been in a long standoff with cops who cut off their water, food and supplies in a bid to “smoke them out”.

They are suspected to have died of dehydration or starvation, Sabelo Mnguni, a spokesman for the Mining Affected Communities United in Action Group (MACUA), said.

Some 18 bodies have been brought out of the abandoned mine in northwestern town of Stilfontein since Friday.

But some 500 more are still trapped inside after being stuck underground for nine months.

Footage from a mobile phone sent to the surface with some of the rescued miners on Friday included videos of dozens of bodies wrapped in plastic, the spokesman added.

The first film reportedly showed piles of miners’ bodies wrapped in sacks and plastic, while living miners who are still stuck underground pleaded for help.

A second video showed shirtless miners looking emaciated, with their ribs protruding.

Police said they blocked miners’ supplies of food and water to force them out and arrest them for illegally entering the abandoned mine in search of leftover gold – part of a crackdown on illegal mining that has plagued South Africa for decades.

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