A body was brought out of an abandoned South African gold mine as police tried to evict hundreds of illegal miners hiding out in the workings.

Authorities have spent weeks trying to “smoke them out” to bring an end to the underground standoff in the town of Stilfontein, south-west of Johannesburg, by stopping deliveries of food and water to the mine.

More than 1,100 people have resurfaced since the start of the operation named “Close the Hole”, including two who emerged on Thursday.

But residents claim as many as 4,000, who are said to be sick and increasingly weak, could still be below ground.

Police, who say it is too dangerous to enter the mine to make arrests, have said this number is “far-fetched” and put the total closer to 300.

The government on Wednesday said it would not send any help to the illegal miners.

“We are not sending help to criminals. We are going to smoke them out. They will come out. Criminals are not to be helped. We didn’t send them there,” Cabinet Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni told reporters.