South African rescue workers retrieved 78 bodies from a disused gold mine where hundreds of illegal extractors have been involved in a months-long standoff with the authorities.Most Read from BloombergThese Homes Withstood the LA Fires.

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.

First responders pulled dozens of bodies and hundreds of emaciated survivors from an abandoned gold mine this week, bringing a grisly end to a months-long standoff with illegal miners and their families.

A suspected gang leader known as "Tiger" escaped with the help of South African police after being pulled from an illegal gold mine last week where at least 78 miners died, the police said on Monday.

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

The man known as 'Tiger' is on the run after surfacing from a Stilfontein mine last week. Tshoeali is believed to have been one of the leaders of the illegal underground activity there. WATCH: Who dropped the ball ?

By Nellie Peyton JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -South African police are hunting a gang leader from Lesotho believed to have controlled operations at an illegal gold mine where 78 bodies were recovered last week after months of police siege.