AFP presents a photo essay of 36 pictures by Nicolas Tucat taken between February 9 and March 11, 2026 of urban explorers (urbex) examining abandoned factories in Charleroi, southern Belgium. Once a major industrial city of the coal industry, Charleroi still bears the marks of a working-class past now lying fallow. As they venture through its abandoned factories, urban explorers (urbex) end up telling the story of a system as much as of a pastime: that of a capitalism which pours investment into a place, exploits it, then withdraws, leaving behind nothing but ruins to explore.
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Search ‘REPORTAGE’ to source all feature, magazine and photo essays. (Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP)