By Nellie Peyton and Bhargav Acharya STILFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) -At least 78 illegal miners have been pulled out dead from a South African mine where police blocked food and water supplies for months in what trade unions described as a "horrific" state crackdown on desperate people trying to eke out a living.

Over two dozen illegal miners were rescued and at least 15 bodies recovered from an abandoned gold mine in South Africa, as operations continued for a second day Tuesday to

South African authorities lifted the bodies of 60 people from an abandoned gold mine, police have said. Hundreds more people could be underground following a monthslong effort to force them out of the mine.