Tajo

• Photographer
  Stefano Sbrulli

Cerro de Pasco(70.000 inhabitants)grew around an open pit called El Tajo. A crater 2 kilometers long and wide and almost 1 km deep. Despite millions of dollars generated by over 400 years of mining exploitation, today Cerro de Pasco is one of the poorest cities in Peru. The health system is almost inexistent and the population does not receive any help from the government. 100% of the population would urgently hospitalized for the presence of heavy metals in their bodies. 33% of the infant mortality is due to congenital malformations and the incidence of cancer is 4 time the national average