The bodies of 78 Zama Zama's were pulled from the Buffelsfontein gold mine this week during a government-led operation to shut down an elaborate illicit mining network.

In South Africa a months long standoff between police and illegal miners in an abandoned gold mine comes to end, with close to 80 found dead in grim recovery operation.

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 them out" by cutting off their food supplies.