Covered in fine white dust, labourers at a limestone quarry in southern Egypt toil in brutal conditions with little workplace safety for paltry pay. Labourers work in shifts at the quarry in the so-called White Mountain east of the river Nile outside Minya, about 265km south of the capital Cairo. They don goggles and wrap scarves around their faces in an attempt to keep out the clouds of white powder thrown up by the whirring machines. Workplace injuries there are severe — either death or permanent injury. The white bricks are destined to be used in construction.
