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.

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,

South African rescuers have pulled out 36 dead bodies and 82 survivors from a gold mine deep underground in two days of operations, police said on Tuesday, adding that the survivors would all face illegal mining and immigration charges.