Powder-Covered Workers Toil in Egypt’s Quarries

Photos by Mosa’ab Elshamy

In the desert of southern Egypt, workers in limestone pits look as though they stepped out of a blizzard, covered in the white powder of the stones that are the economic lifeblood of this region.

The quarries are the main employers in Minya province, some 300 kilometers (180 miles) south of Cairo. Around 45,000 people, including children, work in an estimated 1,500 quarries, digging out stones that later will be used in construction or powdered to be used by pharmaceutical and ceramic companies.

But the work, paying $7 to $13 a day, is backbreaking — and dangerous. Workers have suffered amputations and electrocutions, sometimes dying.

One laborer, 15-year-old Baskharoon Mounir, lost his left arm to a cutting machine in 2013 after working for only a month without safety equipment or training.

“I wish I could go back, even with one arm.” Baskharoon says. “It would be better than staying at home, but when they see me, they do not allow me to work.”

Quarry workers — many children younger than Baskharoon — are overwhelmingly day laborers. In the village of Shurafa, most wait each day on a bridge to be picked up for work by managers driving by in pickup trucks.

Deaths and injuries largely go undocumented, says Hossam Wasfy, the executive director of Wadi El Nil, a charity that focuses on child labor. In one village called Nazlet Abeed, there were 18 quarry deaths alone in 2009, he says.

After Egypt’s 2011 uprising, quarry workers formed their first independent workers’ union with the help of the charity, Wasfy says.

“The uprising had a mixed effect on the workers,” he says. “Work opportunities may have reduced due to the economic situation, but laborers are now organizing and becoming aware of their rights.”

Here is a collection of images by Associated Press photographer Mosa’ab Elshamy of workers in the limestone quarries of southern Egypt.

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, quarry workers are transported in pickup trucks after dawn from Shurafa village, Minya, southern Egypt. Around 45,000 people, including children, work in an estimated 1,500 quarries, digging out stones that later will be used in construction or powdered to be used by pharmaceutical and ceramic companies.(AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, quarry workers sit after dawn in a pick-up truck ready to be transported to work in Minya, southern Egypt. Quarry managers looking for laborers drive to the bridge and transport a select few to the quarries, according to the demand of quarry owners on that particular day. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, a quarry worker keeps warm after dawn by drinking tea as he and others are transported in pick-up trucks to work in Minya, southern Egypt. The quarries are the main employers in the province, some 300 kilometers (180 miles) south of Cairo. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, quarry workers wait for trucks to transport them to work after dawn in Shurafa village, Minya, southern Egypt. Quarry workers , many children younger than Baskharoon, are overwhelmingly day laborers. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, quarry workers try to keep themselves warm around a bonfire as they wait for work after dawn in Shurafa village, Minya, southern Egypt. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, quarry workers use machinery with sharp rotor blades to cut through limestone pits in the desert of Minya, southern Egypt. Quarry work is considered one of the most dangerous and deadly jobs in the country, carrying a high risk of amputation, electrocution and various respiratory and skin diseases. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, a young worker smiles during a tea break at sunrise in the desert of Minya, southern Egypt. Some children as young as 10-years-old work in the quarries to help their families, risking injury and sometimes death. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, quarry workers are enveloped in dust at a limestone quarry in the desert of Minya, southern Egypt. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, a quarry worker uses a machine with sharp rotor blades to cut through limestone pits at a quarry in the desert of Minya, southern Egypt. Around 45,000 people work in an estimated 1,500 quarries, digging out stones that later will be used in construction or powdered to be used by pharmaceutical and ceramic companies inside Egypt and abroad. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, a quarry worker wearing a face mask to protect from dust pauses while arranging freshly cut stones at a quarry in the desert of Minya, southern Egypt. Around 45,000 people work in an estimated 1,500 quarries, digging out stones that later will be used in construction or powdered to be used by pharmaceutical and ceramic companies inside Egypt and abroad. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, freshly cut limestone bricks are arranged and ready for transport at a quarry in the desert of Minya, southern Egypt. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, limestone quarry workers walk through a cloud of dust spewed into the air by rotor blades of the stone-cutting machinery in the desert of Minya, southern Egypt. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, quarry workers use machinery with sharp rotor blades to cut through limestone pits at a quarry in the desert of Minya, southern Egypt. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, a spare rotor blade is stored in a limestone quarry in the desert of Minya, Egypt. The ultra sharp blades are the main tools used to cut through limestone pits at high velocity and is the main cause of injuries among quarry workers. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, electric wires running machinery are connected to a makeshift fuse at quarry in the desert of Minya, Egypt. Injuries from electrocution are not uncommon among quarry workers who may step on exposed wires that snake across the entire quarry. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, men work at a limestone quarry at sunrise in the desert of Minya, Egypt. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, a quarry worker wearing a face mask to protect from dust tries to stay balanced while arranging cut stones at a quarry in the desert of Minya, southern Egypt. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this combination of four photos taken on Wednesday, March 18, 2015, limestone quarry workers pose for a portrait at work in the desert of Minya, southern Egypt. From left: Agayeb Bushra, 35; Kirollos Aziz Bushra, 27; Samuel Fahim, 17 and Ayman Kamel, 18. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, bags filled with limestone powder are arranged for transport at quarry in the desert of Minya, Egypt. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

This Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo shows a general view of a limestone quarry in the desert of Minya, Egypt. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, Baskharoon Mounir, 15, poses for a photograph at his home in Tehna, a village in Minya, southern Egypt. Baskharoon lost his left arm to a cutting machine at a stone quarry in 2013 after working for only a month without safety equipment or training. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

In this Wednesday, March 18, 2015 photo, quarry workers relax at the end of their work day in Tehna village, Minya, southern Egypt. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

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Text from the AP news story, AP PHOTOS: Powder-covered workers toil in Egypt’s quarries, by Mosa’ab Elshamy.

Follow Mosa’ab Elshamy | Twitter: @mosaaberizing | Instagram: @mosaabelshamy

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