These sand-swept images show the ghostly remains of what was once a mineral-rich mining community. In its heyday, the town of Kolmanskop, Namibia, was home to about 700 families. Now all that remains are empty homes filled with sand, while cast-off items such as bathtubs are scattered about the surrounding area. Over time, the sand of the stunning dunes that encircle the town of Kolmanskop has been blown towards the abandoned residences, coating everything from streets to the interiors of houses and workshops. Here: Kolmankop, an abandoned mining town in Namibia. (Photo by David Ogden/Caters News)

Medics help a rescued miner after an explosion and fire at a coal mine killed at least 17 miners and left up to 300 workers trapped underground, in Soma, in western Turkey, Tuesday, May 13, 2014, a Turkish official said. Twenty people were rescued from the mine but one later died in the hospital, Soma administrator Mehmet Bahattin Atci told reporters. The town is 250 kilometers (155 miles) south of Istanbul. The death toll was expected to rise. (Photo by AP Photo/Depo Photos)

The old church of Geamana village is seen partially submerged by polluted water tainted with cyanide and other chemicals near Rosia Montana, central Romania, March 24, 2014. (Photo by Bogdan Cristel/Reuters)

Boys play basketball in the facilities of Belarus' Republican Clinic of Speleotherapy within a salt mine, as part of their treatment, near the town of Soligorsk, south of Minsk, February 19, 2015. According to the state clinic, more than 7,000 children and adults seek medical treatment for respiratory illness each year in the subsurface chambers of its facilities, located 420 metres underground between layers of potassium and stone salts in an operational salt mine. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

A illegal gold miner of Kamoro people, Tinus, pan for gold on February 4, 2017 in Timika, Papua Province, Indonesia. Indonesia produces over 70 billion dollars in gold a year and is home to the largest gold mine and the third largest copper mine in the world, the Grasberg mine, which is located at West Papua. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images)

A car stands in water on Ferry Road after two magnitude 6.0 and 5.5 earthquakes struck on June 13, 2011 in Christchurch, New Zealand. The aftershocks have followed four months after the major eathquake which hit the city on February 22, 2011 resulting in the deaths of 181 people. (Photo by Martin Hunter/Getty Images)

A woman is helped by others amidst debris at a street in Dolores, the day after the city was hit by a tornado, April 16, 2016. (Photo by Andres Stapff/Reuters)

Lightning streaks across the sky as lava flows from a volcano in Eyjafjallajokul April 17, 2010. (Photo by Lucas Jackson/Reuters)