De Beer mine workers are X-rayed at the end of every shift before leaving the diamond mines, Kimberley, South Africa, October 1954
Each day at the end of the shift, the miners would have to go through the x-ray machine for inspection.
Some miners would swallow diamonds, even hide them in self-inflicted incisions in their legs.
According to a Botswana based mine, 36% of the workers smuggle diamonds out of its mines by hiding them in the anus, 30% hide them between their buttocks, 14% use their socks and hair, 5% conceal the gems in their mouths, 2% place the gems under their scrotum, 2% hide them in their clothes, 2% use their underwear and 10% use other means.
