Death toll rises to 87 as standoff between police and miners ends in South Africa

The death toll in a months-long 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 as they wound down a rescue operation that has pulled more than 240 survivors out from deep underground.

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National police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe said that 78 bodies were retrieved from the mine in an official rescue operation that began Monday, while another nine had been recovered previously. She did not give details on how those other bodies were retrieved.

Community groups have said they launched their own rescue attempts when authorities said last year they would not help the hundreds of miners because they were "criminals."