South African rescuers have pulled out 36 dead bodies and 82 survivors from a gold mine deep underground in two days of operations, police said on Tuesday, adding that the survivors would all face illegal mining and immigration charges.

Rescuers have sent a cagelike structure into one of South Africa’s deepest gold mines to bring out survivors among hundreds of miners working illegally in an abandoned shaft who have been trapped for months.

The authorities had at one point limited the miners’ access to food, water and other supplies in a blockade that drew criticism from human rights groups.