The death toll in a monthslong standoff between police and miners trapped while working illegally in an abandoned gold mine in South Africa has risen to at least 87, police said Thursday. Authorities faced growing anger and a possible investigation over their initial refusal to help the miners and instead “smoke

The prospectors were trapped underground for months as police, on orders from South Africa’s government, attempted to starve them out.

STILFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) -South African rescuers have pulled out 36 dead bodies and 82 survivors from a gold mine deep underground in two days of operations, police said on Tuesday, adding that the survivors would all face illegal mining and immigration charges.

One hundred and eighteen illegal miners have been extracted from the Stilfontein mine in South Africa on Monday and Tuesday as part of a rescue operation, of which 36 were certified as dead, police said in a statement on Tuesday.

Using a cage-like device, South African rescuers have brought at least 60 bodies and 92 survivors to the surface from one of the country's deepest mines.

By Nellie Peyton and Xolani Nhlapo STILFONTEIN, South Africa (Reuters) -South African rescuers ended their attempts on Thursday to find anyone left in an illegal gold mine where at least 78 people died during a police siege,

Authorities launched an operation in November to force the illegally operating miners out by cutting off food and water from the surface for a time. Hundreds are thought to remain underground.