Daldykan River In Russia Suddenly Turns Blood Red

The Daldykan River situated above the Arctic Circle turned blood red Tuesday. The residents of the Norilsk town were stunned and shared photos of the bloody red river in social media.

CNN - Russians trying to determine why the waters of the Daldykan River in Siberia have suddenly turned bright red. pic.twitter.com/2wyOj1omf8

— ✨ GORDON ✨ (@GPSomerville) September 8, 2016

The Russian authorities are now investigating the cause of the sudden change of color of the said river. Meanwhile, Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment stated that the water may have reddened due to discharge from "an unidentified chemical" from the nearby Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant. They speculated that is a pipeline broke, contaminants could have leaked into the river.

#russianriver mysteriously turns #blood #red #Daldykan #River near #norilsk in #Siberia lost its natural color pic.twitter.com/7L2ao3ZLGz — sudhakar (@naidusudhakar) September 8, 2016

According to CNN, the metallurgical plant is owned by Norilsk Nickel, which the world's largest nickel producer. Norilsk Nickel denied the allegations that the pollution was caused by discharge from its plant. They further said that they will continue to examine the environmental situation in the area and lessen the production at the plant while the testing is being demonstrated.

Denis Koshevoi, a Ph.D. candidate at the Verndasky Institute for Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry said that Norilsk Nickel pumps chemical solutions and metal concentrates from ore mills to Nadezhda. He added that periodically there are accidents when these pipes break and solution spill and get into the Daldykan---that's why it changes color.

A Norilsk resident described it as scary especially when you see the bloody river. On the other hand, people are still gathering berries and mushrooms. Meanwhile, one commenter quoted a passage from the Bible in which the Lord tells Moses and Aaron to "strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood."

Daldykan River flows to the industrial city of Norilsk located east of the Yenisei River and south of the western Taymyr Peninsula. It has a population of 220,000 and considered the second largest city inside the Arctic Circle. Mining and smelting ore are the major industries in Norilsk. It is the center of a region where copper, nickel, platinum, coal, palladium, and cobalt are mined. It also became the center of the Norillag system of GULAG labor camp, which was the Soviet forced labor camp systems during the Stalin era, dated 1930s until the 1950s.