South Africa's president is facing calls to order an inquiry into a police operation that was meant to combat illegal mining but ended up leaving 87 miners to die underground as authorities attempted to force them to surrender during a monthslong standoff.

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

More than 17,000 alleged illegal miners, many from neighbouring countries, have surfaced in South Africa during a police operation that has lasted more than a year, and saw the death of at least 78 miners from the abandoned Stilfontein mine.

South African authorities have come under intense scrutiny for their response after civic groups said hundreds of miners have been trapped deep in an abandoned gold mine for months.

At least 100 illegal miners have died of suspected starvation and dehydration after being trapped underground for months in an abandoned gold mine in North

The Buffelsfontein gold mine in South Africa has become a grim site with dozens of illegal miners dead and more trapped underground. The government's harsh tactics against these miners have received backlash,

A group representing informal miners in South Africa says at least 100 men who were mining illegally in an abandoned gold mine have died after being trapped deep underground for months while police tr

NINE bodies were among illegal miners retrieved from the Buffelsfontein gold mine in Stilfontein following rescue operations which started on Monday. Hundreds of illegal miners are said to be hiding underground since November last year when the South African Police Service launched a raid aimed at ridding the North West province of its zama-zamas.