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

An illegal miner lifted from an abandoned gold pit in South Africa has died in hospital, health officials said, raising the toll from the site to 88 since August.

Nearly 2,000 miners were working illegally underground at the Buffelsfontein Gold Mine south west of Johannesburg, police said.