During a visit on Tuesday, the police and mines ministers were insulted and told to leave by an angry crowd that blamed the government for the deaths.

Police said that more than 1,500 miners had come to the surface before the rescue operation began.

However, others remained underground, either because they feared arrest or were forced to stay there by gangs that control the mine.

Many mines in South Africa have been abandoned over the last three decades by companies that did not find them economically viable.

The mines have been taken over by gangs, often former employees, that sell minerals they find on the black market.

This includes the mine in Stilfontein, some 145km (90 miles) south-west of the country’s biggest city, Johannesburg, which has been the focus of government efforts to clamp down on the illegal industry.