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 clampdown on illegal mining cut off food and water to hundreds of miners underground. At least 78 bodies were pulled from a mining shaft this week, and more are believed to remain underground.

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

At least 78 dead bodies have been pulled from an illegal gold mine in South Africa where police cut off food and water supplies for months, in what trade unions called a "horrific" crackdown on desperate people trying to eke out a living.

Over two dozen illegal miners were rescued and at least 15 bodies recovered from an abandoned gold mine in South Africa, as operations continued for a second day Tuesday to reach more people who have been underground for months.

South African authorities lifted the bodies of 60 people from an abandoned gold mine, police have said. Hundreds more people could be underground following a monthslong effort to force them out of the mine.