By Siyabonga Sishi and Nellie PeytonSTILFONTEIN, 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 clampdown on illegal mining cut off food and water to hundreds of miners underground. At least 78 bodies were pulled from a mining shaft this week, and more are believed to remain underground.

The miner, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisals, said he surfaced on Christmas Day after entering the shaft in July, spending months underground where he experienced extreme hunger and saw many of his fellow diggers dying from starvation and illnesses.