By Siyabonga Sishi and Nellie Peyton STILFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) - South African rescuers were making final efforts on Thursday to ascertain whether anyone was left in an illegal gold mine deep underground where at least 78 people died during a police siege,

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

Rescue teams in South Africa have stepped up efforts to pull out survivors and the corpses of illegal miners trapped underground for about two months, following one of the most extraordinary tragedies to hit the industry.