The dying outback town where every breath can be toxic

Once a symbol of economic prosperity, Wittenoom now stands as one of Australia’s greatest industrial tragedies.

Yan Zhuang

Oct 5, 2022 – 9.16am

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Sitting on a roof in a ghost town in the middle of the Australian outback, Mario Hartmann waited for the bulldozers to come.

He climbed up every day because it was the only spot to get an internet signal. With the nearest town an hour and a half away, he knew he must be careful. “I go, you can only have 15 beers,” he said. “More than 15 beers, you don’t come up here.”