Interpol says a major operation targeting illegal gold mining in West Africa has resulted in 200 arrests and the seizure of harmful chemicals, explosives and drugs.

Interpol, which coordinated the West African police operation dubbed “Sanu, " announced the move on Tuesday.

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

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.

An operation to rescue stranded illegal gold miners in South Africa's North West province has begun, following a months-long standoff. Bloomberg's S'thembile Cele speaks to Jennifer Zabasajja about the rescue effort.

An operation to rescue the miners from the Buffelsfontein mine, 160km west of Johannesburg, began on Monday after a judge ordered authorities to act on humanitarian grounds. Harrowing accounts have emerged of their ordeal,