Underground emerald miners in Pakistan face peril

Al Jazeera profiles the dangerous mining work in the Mingora emerald mines in Pakistan.

“We work in the jaws of death, but we are poor and don’t have a choice. Thank god the owners have been kind enough to give me a job,” says one worker in the video.

About 150 labourers are employed in at least 16 such mines.

The Mingora mines, located in the Swat Valley, are estimated to contain 13 million carats of high quality emeralds.