Rescue operations involving volunteers under way in Stilfontein amid reports that hundreds are still trapped underground.

Two men have been pulled out from an abandoned gold mine in South Africa after a court ordered the police to lift a blockade and allow the rescue of hundreds of workers believed to be involved in “illegal” mining activities.

Rescue operations involving volunteers were under way on Sunday in Stilfontein, southwest of the executive capital Pretoria, according to Al Jazeera correspondent Haru Mutasa, reporting from the site.