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.

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.

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

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

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.

Police say the death toll in a monthslong standoff between authorities and miners trapped while working illegally underground at an abandoned gold mine in South Africa has risen to at least 87