Portugal Colonial - Dozens rescued, 15 bodies pulled from South Africa mine

This brings the death toll to 24 since August, when authorities began driving out clandestine miners at the site near Stilfontein, about 140 kilometres (90 miles) southwest of Johannesburg, police Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili told journalists at the scene.

Some 1,500 people have voluntarily left the shaft, a police spokesperson earlier told local press.

"They are very sick. They are very dehydrated. You can see they are nearly dying," community leader Johannes Qankase told AFP on Tuesday.

A professional mine rescue company on Monday set up a machine called a Rescue Winder to reach the miners through a rough hole in the ground.

Police say hundreds could still be underground but the exact number is unclear.

Thousands of illegal miners, many from other countries, are said to operate in abandoned shafts across South Africa.

The country boasts some of the deepest gold mines in the world, extending kilometres underground, according to the Minerals Council South Africa.

After reaching the surface, many of the miners were taken to hospital while two were believed to be in police custody, Qankase said.

Police spokeswoman Athlenda Mathe told AFP that six bodies were recovered Tuesday, in addition to nine that Qankase said were removed the day before.

Government officials visited the site on Tuesday as the recovery continued.

Authorities have been accused of trying to force the miners to surface by throttling food and water supplies lowered to them by the surrounding community.

A court ordered in November that police must end all restrictions at the shaft, allowing people above ground to resume lowering food and water to those below.

There were claims in mid-November that up to 4,000 people were underground but police have said the figure was probably in the hundreds.

A video released by two miners' rights group Monday showed what appeared to be several corpses wrapped in plastic at the shaft.

- Dire conditions -

AFP journalists at the site Monday filmed what appeared to be several body bags being removed from the cage.

Over the past weeks, miners who have exited the shaft reported dire conditions underground, including acute hunger and dehydration. Some were arrested for being in South Africa without proper documentation.

Locally known as "zama zamas" -- "those who try" in the Zulu language -- illegal miners frustrate mining companies and are often accused of criminality by residents.

G.Teles--PC