The South African government said on Friday it has put together a team including mine rescue experts to come up with a plan to bring to surface illegal miners who remain under a disused gold mine. The move signaled the government was taking a more conciliatory approach compared to earlier this week,

A community rescue effort to help illegal miners trapped in a mine shaft in South Africa emerged after police said they wouldn't help.

Three months after South Africa sealed most exits at a disused mine near Johannesburg in a crackdown on illegal miners, it has now agreed to rescue hundreds trapped underground — many now believed too weak to come out on their own.

A standoff between police and illegal miners has gotten heated in South Africa. Reports say hundreds of illegal miners, who entered an abandoned mine in search of leftover gold, refuse to come out for fear they may be arrested.

Volunteers intervened in South Africa, after government says it won't help a group of illegal miners inside a closed mine in the country's North West province who have been denied access to basic supplies as part of an official strategy against illegal mining.