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.

The derelict Stilfontein shaft, which became a hell hole for hundreds of trapped miners, is just one of 6,000 that have been abandoned by South Africa’s gold extraction companies. The vast Witwatersrand goldfield,