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,

Rights groups say police used starvation as a weapon to force out illegal miners, resulting in close to 80 deaths.

Standing near the rim of a nearly 2-mile deep shaft, Zinzi Tom waited for word of her brother as the authorities began a long-delayed operation to rescue hundreds of gold miners trapped underground for months.