Twenty-five people were killed in clashes between strikers and police at the Lonmin platinum mine in Marikana, northwest South Africa, the provincial health ministry said Friday.

"The death toll is standing on 25" from the clashes on Thursday, said ministry spokesman Tebogo Lekgethwane, quoted by the SAPA news agency. Another 10 died in previous days in fighting between rival unions at the mine, where several hundred workers went on strike demanding steep pay increases.