There’s an exploding lake in Cameroon that killed nearly 2,000 people

There’s an exploding lake in Cameroon that killed nearly 2,000 people

The world is full of all sorts of strange, and sometimes deadly, features and among them is Cameroon’s Lake Nyos, which exploded and claimed the lives of people in a number of adjacent villages.

In 1986, Lake Nyos, a crater lake in the north west of the country, suffocated almost two thousand people in a single night. Like many other crater lakes, which are formed by subterranean volcanic activity, Lake Nyos contained a high level of carbon dioxide gas.

However, instead of the gas dissipating over time as the water turned over, the lake stored the gas for centuries, making it a ticking time bomb for residents close by.

Once the lake was triggered, an explosion known as a limnic eruption occurred so catastrophic that it released thousands of tons of the toxic gas at a reported speed of 60 miles per hour, annihilating life in a 15-mile radius.

Source: Yahoo News

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