Blue Flames - stock photo

Java, Indonesia: November 12 2014: Hot sulphuric gases emerging from the surface of the crater burn an electric blue upon contact with the cold air. Miners working inside the crater of ‘Kawah Ijen’ volcano must endure some of the toughest working conditions in the world. Trekking up the 300 meter slope before dawn, and then descending back down 900 meters into the crater, many of the miners cannot afford proper protective clothing and gas masks, which leaves them vulnerable to the toxic sulphuric gases emerging from the volcano.