South African police are hunting a gang leader from Lesotho believed to have controlled operations at an illegal gold mine where 78 bodies were recovered last week after months of police siege.

A suspected illegal gold mining ringleader escaped from custody with help from police officers about a week after resurfacing from a disused mine in South Africa where 246 survivors were rescued and 78 bodies were retrieved last week,

Police were widely condemned for the months-long operation in which they cut off food and water supplies to the miners in an attempt to force them out of the mine to face arrest

The South African rand jumped on Monday as markets waited for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's policy announcements for clarity on his administration's fiscal stance.

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.