At least 78 people have died after authorities imposed a blockade on an illegal gold mine here, part of a monthslong standoff between prospectors and a government determined to force them to surface—often by cutting off their food and water.

The miners are suspected to have died of starvation and dehydration, although no causes of death have been released.

First responders pulled dozens of bodies and hundreds of emaciated survivors from an abandoned gold mine this week, bringing a grisly end to a months-long standoff with illegal miners and their families.