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 African police are hunting an alleged “kingpin” of illegal mining after he escaped from custody following a rescue operation last week in which 78 bodies were brought out of an illicit goldmine.

A suspected leader of an illegal gold mining operation in South Africa, James Neo Tshoaeli, has reportedly escaped custody with alleged assistance from police officers. Tshoaeli, who goes by the nickname "Tiger,