13-year-old Mustafa searches for wood on the Qayyarah rubbish dump. Photo by Tom Westcott, December 7, 2016.
A child walks alone back to the town of Qayyarah, lugging the day’s spoils collected from the garbage dump. Photo by Tom Westcott, December 7, 2016.
A small child plays in the garbage dump while his mother searches for wood. Photo by Tom Westcott, December 7, 2016.
A young boy uses toxic ash to stop hot crude oil burning through the container he and his grandfather are takinghome as fuel to warm their home. Photo by Tom Westcott,
November 28, 2016.
A young boy uses toxic ash to stop hot crude oil burning through the container he and his grandfather are taking home as fuel to warm their home. Photo by Tom Westcott,
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November 28, 2016.< Show less
An old man and a young boy carry a container of crude oil they have just collected from oil pools beside a burning well. Photo by Tom Westcott, November 28, 2016.
An old man and a young boy carry a container of crude oil they have just collected from oil pools beside a burning well. Photo by Tom Westcott, November 28, 2016.
Black smoke from the burning oil wells drifts over a local militia base, guarding the road to Qayyarah. Photo by Tom Westcott, December 7, 2016.
Children play football in the streets of Qayyarah. Photo by Tom Westcott, November 28, 2016.
Children search for makeshift toys on the garbage dump, while their mothers search for wood and leaves to make fires for cooking. Photo by Tom Westcott, December 7, 2016.
Each burning oil well takes weeks to bring under control. Photo by Tom Westcott, November 28, 2016.
Firefighters working on extinguishing an oil well. Photo by Tom Westcott, November 28, 2016.
Local people carry on their lives under clouds of toxic smoke bellowing from the burning oil wells. Photo by Tom Westcott, November 28, 2016.
The post-apocalyptic landscape around Qayyarah where retreating IS militants set oil wells and facilities ablaze. Photo by Tom Westcott, December 7, 2016.
The post-apocalyptic landscape around Qayyarah where retreating IS militants set oil wells and facilities ablaze. Photo by Tom Westcott, December 7, 2016.
The skies over the garbage dump are darkened by smoke from the burning wells. Photo by Tom Westcott, December 7, 2016.
Under skies blackened by the burning oil wells, a child searches through scrap metal by the roadside. Photo by Tom Westcott, December 7, 2016.
Women and children scavenge through the garbage dump, looking for wood to leaves they can burn to warm their homes. Photo by Tom Westcott, December 7, 2016.
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