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 last week.

South Africa's police have launched a manhunt for an alleged "kingpin", who is accused of controlling operations at an abandoned gold mine where 78 corpses were discovered last week. The police force said officials had helped James Neo Tshoaeli, a Lesotho national also known as Tiger, to escape after he was pulled up from the mine in Stilfontein.

The prospectors were trapped underground for months as police, on orders from South Africa’s government, attempted to starve them out.

Arguing that the miners had entered the mine without permission, authorities reportedly cracked down by cutting off their access to food and water.

Rescue workers retrieved at least 78 bodies from an illegal gold mine in South Africa, where police cut off food and water supply.

South African police are searching for 'Tiger,' a gang leader involved in an illegal gold mine where 78 bodies were found. Surviving miners report starvation as gang leaders hoarded food. The incident has raised questions about accountability,

A suspected gang leader known as "Tiger" escaped with the help of South African police after being pulled from an illegal gold mine last week where at least 78 miners died, the police said on Monday.