South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is facing calls to order a national 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.

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

Standing near the rim of a nearly 2-mile deep shaft, Zinzi Tom waited for word of her brother as the authorities began a long-delayed operation to rescue hundreds of gold miners trapped underground for months.