South African police say a suspected illegal gold mining ringleader escaped from custody with help from police officers about a week after resurfacing from a disused mine in South Africa where 246 survivors were rescued and 78 bodies were retrieved last week.

The prospectors were trapped underground for months as police, on orders from South Africa’s government, attempted to starve them out.

The Coalbrook North Colliery disaster of January 21, 1960, remains one of the most catastrophic events in South African mining history, where 435 miners tragically lost their lives due to a tunnel collapse. The bodies of those who perished in this incident were never recovered.

Rescue workers retrieved at least 78 bodies from an illegal gold mine in South Africa, where police cut off food and water supply.

The death toll in a monthslong standoff between police and miners trapped while working illegally in an abandoned gold

Arguing that the miners had entered the mine without permission, authorities reportedly cracked down by cutting off their access to food and water.

South Africa's police have launched a manhunt for an alleged "kingpin", who is accused of controlling operations at an abandoned gold mine where 78 corpses were discovered last week. The police force said officials had helped James Neo Tshoaeli, a Lesotho national also known as Tiger, to escape after he was pulled up from the mine in Stilfontein.

South African police are searching for 'Tiger,' a gang leader involved in an illegal gold mine where 78 bodies were found. Surviving miners report starvation as gang leaders hoarded food. The incident has raised questions about accountability,

A suspected leader of an illegal gold mining operation in South Africa, James Neo Tshoaeli, has reportedly escaped custody with alleged assistance from police officers. Tshoaeli, who goes by the nickname "Tiger,