In 1986, thousands of people were silently killed in their homes in the village of Nyos, Cameroon.
The disaster left every living creature for miles, dead on the ground, with seemingly no warning—leaving medical teams baffled as they surveyed the damage days later.
Over 1,700 people were killed along with thousands of animals that were in the vicinity.
But what caused the deaths of so many people?
There was no evidence of bleeding, trauma, or any agony—it was as if the victims had simply blacked out and died unconscious.
At the strange event, scientists flew in from around the world in order to figure what exactly had happened in Nyos.
Clue #1: Victim Range
After surveying the distribution of corpses in the area, it seemed as if everyone who died was within 12 miles of Lake Nyos—a lake that was formed in a dormant volcano.
In the villages further away from Nyos, there were more survivors, while in Nyos, fewer than 8 people survived.
Not only was this the biggest clue, the lake, which had previously been a rich blue color, had turned a deep, murky red.
Clue #2: CO2 Levels
Scientists began to take samples from the lake. They learned that the red on top was dissolved iron, which would’ve usually been sitting at the bottom of the lake.
They also discovered an astronomical amount of CO2 within the waters, causing samples taken from the lake to bubble up like soda when removed.
The deeper in the lake the samples came from, the more pressure they had, causing samples to burst and explode at all the gas contained inside.
Now, it wasn’t abnormal that Lake Nyos contained CO2, all lakes did, but what was different about this one was that the gas had never left and was being piled up within the lake continuously.
Clue #3: Location
CO2 usually leaves a body of water because water is continually circulating; however, Lake Nyos is one of the stillest bodies of water in the entire world. Tall hills surround the lake on all sides, causing it to be dangerously still.
Since Cameroon is in a tropical climate, the temperature of the water doesn’t change from season to season, causing the CO2 to never leave the water and build-up, significantly.
Since there’s only so much CO2 water can absorb, as lower levels of the lake were completely saturated with the gas, it would continuously rise until it reached the surface.
This would let any disturbance of the water cause bubbling, in turn causing a chain reaction in which all the CO2 in the lake would be expelled releasing it hundreds of feet into the air.
And while CO2 in and of itself isn’t toxic, it is a heavy gas and will fall closer to the ground, causing the disaster to unfold.
So, what exactly happened on August 22, 1986?
Villagers who lived on the hillside above Lake Nyos reported seeing the lake bubble up mysteriously before a cloud of mist formed above the lake. Without warning, the lake ‘exploded’ sending out enough CO2 in the air to fill up 10 football stadiums
The CO2 was sent over 300 feet up in the air before settling on the hillside—killing anything in its path.
For the people on the hillside, they could survive by traveling to higher ground, but for the people in the valley—such as the people in Nyos—death was inevitable.
The gas cloud sped at a rate of 45mph down the valley poisoning and smothering anyone who was in the ‘pockets’ of CO2.
Some people were far away enough from the disaster that staying inside with the doors and windows shut saved them from an untimely death.
Others who were more curious and investigated either the exploding sound or the smell of rotten eggs—indicating CO2 poisoning—were killed on their doorstep.
Towards the outskirts of the village, people who were sleeping on the ground were killed while people who were above the gas cloud survived, ignorant of the disaster until they tried to wake their loved ones.
There are only three lakes in the entire world—two in Cameroon, one in Rwanda—that could cause a “limnic eruption”, making it one of the rarest natural disasters that have occurred.
Scientists have been working on ways to safely remove the copious amounts of CO2 in the lake in order to avoid a repeat event happening again.
From the stars,
Dawn.
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