The world’s highest town dubbed ‘most inhumane place on Earth’ for chilling reason

A man risked death to visit the “most inhumane place on Earth” – and he will unlikely be returning any time soon.

YouTuber Tyler Oliveira wanted to see what La Rinconada, which is 5,100 metres above sea level and is perched on a frozen glazier at 16,730ft, was really like.

The town in Peru – also known as “Devil’s Paradise” – is believed to be the highest permanent settlement in the world and is based near a gold mine.

Tyler flew there from Texas and was immediately struck by the freezing temperatures of -3C. One miner gave him an even chillier warning saying the cold and elevation were “extremely difficult” to deal with. The man added: “La Rinconada is designed for the strongest of men and brave women.”

Tyler experienced this on day one when he had to quickly abandon his mission after his body struggled to adjust to the high altitude – showing why it lived up to its reputation as the “most inhumane place on Earth”.

At one point he spoke into the camera, saying: “I think the blood levels are too low… I think I’m dying. My head is bursting with pain, my hands are like red, yellow and blue right now.”

And realising he was experiencing hypoxia, he and his crew retracted from near the top of La Rinconada as speedily as possible. He said: “So my (oximeter) levels hit 59, dangerously low. I definitely have a massive headache right now and I feel extremely dizzy.

“We all wanted to come up here and have perfect acclimation – that would have been the dream but unfortunately that’s just not smart and I want to live until 40 so I’m going back down.”

A 59 oximeter reading means your body is being starved of oxygen and you require urgent medical attention. They went back to a town at 12,000ft and the following day Tyler braved the ascent once again – but his cameraman was too sick to do so.

Speaking to one woman who lived there, she told him about the reportedly lawless crime in the town, saying there were lots of assaults, pimps, prostitution and robberies.

One local even warned him that he was at risk of being kidnapped and that he had to be careful with his camera. Many people took exception to him filming while others spoke about how “dangerous” the area was.

This insight is similar to travel YouTuber Yes Theory who also visited and said it was “by far the sketchiest place I’ve ever been to” and that he had “never been as worried going into filming”.

In the past it has been widely reported how miners were shot dead in tunnels, women were being trafficked into brothels and that fights were common.

There is also huge pollution from plastics and the lack of plumbing means there is just three showers for up to 30,000 people – while 25 percent of residents are believed to suffer from hypoxia because of the low air pressure.

Tyler persisted and was welcomed into the home of one miner who told him about how people risked their lives in the hopes of finding gold from the rocks with mercury.

The gold mine is owned by Corporación Ananea and workers graft for 30 days without pay before being granted one day where they can work for themselves and keep any gold found.

Discovering 50g of gold would signal a good day for a miner, and it would result in as much as £2,900. However, women are banned from working there, and instead sift through what has been discarded in a desperate attempt to get lucky.

Up to 30,000 people are said to live in La Rinconada and Tyler said he gained respect for the courageous residents.

Speaking after making it all the way up on day two, he said: “I don’t think (cameraman) could have made it up here without dying. He’s experiencing altitude sickness down there and I can’t blame him, that was me yesterday.”

The cameraman later said he felt like his skull was going to “explode” and Tyler decided to leave the area before they “kill ourselves”.

But before he did, he added: “I have to give kudos to every person who lives and works in La Rinconada. Our health right now is testament to the insane adaptation these people have, not only do they live up there but they are working in the mines for up to 10 to12 hours and we right now are dying. Our resting heart rate is far higher than it should be, our oxygen levels are extremely variable.

“These people don’t have to be here and the desire for gold is so strong that people don’t even have to work in the mines. They come from all over Peru in the hopes and dreams of getting riches.

“It is hard manual destructive labour on a daily basis. They are working every single day and they are not even getting paid. And at the moment I feel like I’m dying.”

To watch Tyler’s visit to La Rinconada in full, .