Miners repair a motorcycle in front of the ruins of the Nalaikh colliery.

A stone falling sixty meters from the unsecured entrance hole could kill a worker even when wearing a helmet.

The tunnel is about one hundred meters long.

The tunnels are illuminated with electric bulbs.

Every year about a dozen miners die here, at least according to official records. In reality, nobody knows how many people are buried in the makeshift underground tunnels, as the mining activity in Nalaikh lies largely beyond the purview of the authorities. The Nalaikh mines are the most dangerous on earth, even more deadly than Chinese coal mines.

Pulling the metal container through the tunnel.

Pulling the empty container back into the tunnel.

The coal is sold directly to people in the capital city Ulaanbaatar for the millions of stoves in the yurts of the ger-district areas. Ganaa illegal coal miner at Nalaikh.

Sapar‘s workers during a break in the yurt.

Transporting coal on bicycles.