The death toll from a fire at an abandoned South African gold mine rose to at least 61 on Tuesday, making it the country's worst such disaster in recent memory at an illicit mine.

The fire has raged for days at the mine, owned by Harmony Gold Mining Co., in the central Free State province whose many disused mines hold enough deposits to attract illegal mining syndicates.

An underground fire in an abandoned shaft has apparently killed 36 people who were illegally mining, the Harmony Gold Mining Company said Monday. The company said the bodies were brought to the surface by other illegal miners over the weekend at the Eland shaft in central South Africa.

Organised crime syndicates are eyeing the nascent forest carbon credit industry as a potentially lucrative new opportunity for fraud, an Interpol environmental crime official said on Friday.

Peter Younger, an environmental crimes specialist at the world's largest international police agency, was referring to a UN-backed scheme called reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation.

Reserve forests in coastal areas of Patuakhali, especially in Kalapara and Galachipa upazilas, are gradually disappearing as organised gangs are stealing away timber allegedly in connivance with a section of forest department staff and law enforcers.

Besides, a large number of trees are dying due to unknown diseases allegedly caused by deposition of sand.

The controversy surrounding irregularities in the import of four white tigers continues and it has now emerged that the federal government has issued a No-Objection Certificate for the import of the two tigers which is being used by the Lahore zoo well after the actual import took place.

Law enforcing agencies with the cooperation of coast guards have recovered smuggled timbers worth TK 20 lakh and seized two trawlers in a week from Swarupkathi region under Pirojpur district.

Heads have finally begun to roll in the Lahore Zoo

A truck transporting a load of timber in the guise of transporting Army provisions to Puthumathalan, Puthukuduyirippu and Paranthan, supported by convincing documents had been apprehended by Dambulla Forest Conservation Officers, yesterday.