Ladrymbai, India — A boy works at a coal depot near Ladrymbai, in the Jaintia Hills district of northeastern India.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31194

0

Khliehriat, India — Prabhat Sinha, 38, carries a load of coal as he ascends a staircase near the village of Khliehriat.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31195

1

Ladrymbai, India — A crane lifts miners out of a 300-foot-deep mine shaft.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31196

2

Ladrymbai, India — The wages offered for mining coal lures many children to leave school and work.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31197

3

Ladrymbai, India — Shyam Rai, 22, from Nepal makes his way through a "rat hole" tunnel inside a coal mine.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31198

4

Ladrymbai, India — A boy carries coal to be crushed as he works at a coal depot.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31199

5

Ladrymbai, India — Workers cross a bridge to load coal onto a truck.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31200

6

Ladrymbai, India — Chhai Lyngdoh, 14, makes about $5 a day emptying coal from a 5,000-pound hopper.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31201

7

Ladrymbai, India — Twelve-year-old Abdul Kayum carries coal to be crushed.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31202

8

Ladrymbai, India — A miner makes his way through a tunnel.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31203

9

Ladrymbai, India — Anil Basnet, 20, left, pushes a coal cart as he and a fellow worker haul coal from a tunnel.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31204

10

Ladrymbai, India — A coal miner outside a coal mine where he works.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31205

11

Ladrymbai, India — A crane lifts miners out of the shaft of a coal mine as workers break for lunch.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31206

12

Jaintia Hills, India — A young boy named Fight, believed to be 8 years old, shovels coal at a depot. Local schools in the area, providing free tuition, find it difficult to convince parents of the benefits of education, as children are seen as sources of income.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images AsiaPac

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31207

13

Khliehriat, India — Prabhat Sinha, 38, unloads coal that he carried from inside of a mine shaft.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31208

14

Ladrymbai, India — Workers load coal onto trucks at a coal depot.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31209

15

Ladrymbai, India — A worker carries a load of coal before throwing it into a crusher at a coal depot.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31210

16

Ladrymbai, India — A miner unloads tools after being hoisted 300 feet from the depths of a coal mine for his lunch break.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31211

17

Ladrymbai, India — Miners wash as they break for lunch.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31212

18

Ladrymbai, India — A miner calls to the crane operator, sitting 300 feet above, to hoist them out of a coal mine for their lunch break.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31214

19

Ladrymbai, India — Children walk through a coal depot on their way home from school.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31215

20

Ladrymbai, India — Workers make their way home after a shift in the mines.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31216

21

Ladrymbai, India — Inebriated young workers loiter near a coal depot.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31217

22

Ladrymbai, India — Kala Rai, 13, attends an English grammar class at the Biateraim Presbyterian Church school. She worked in the mines for six months but was able to to return to school.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31218

23

Ladrymbai, India — Coal trucks pass through the town.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31219

24

Ladrymbai, India — Coal trucks and other vehicles move through town after being delayed by a traffic accident.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31220

25

Ladrymbai, India — A boy peers into a store as a worker loads coal onto a truck at a coal depot.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31221

26

Ladrymbai, India — People gather in a market to gamble on a dice game.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

http://framework.latimes.com/?attachment_id=31222

27