A community rescue effort to help illegal miners trapped in a mine shaft in South Africa emerged after police said they wouldn't help.

Authorities in South Africa have cut off supplies to nearly 4,000 illegal gold miners hiding underground, as the government is making an effort to "smoke them out" and arrest them, officials announced Thursday.

Several hundred people are believed to remain in an illegal mine in South Africa after the government cut off vital supplies and refused to help them, in a dramatic bid to crack down on the industry.