Lake Nyos

[emo_snal]

Cameroon, 1986
   On hot humid summer nights such as this, Joseph was fond of sitting on the shore of Lake Nyos and watching the moon and stars reflect off the still waters. A cool refreshing breeze blew gently off the silent lake. Lightning flickered beyond nearby mountains, as it almost always did. Insects chirped in the darkness

Comments

[jem0000000]

Wow, poor dude. Good thing he woke up!

[mistearyusdiva2]

SO tragic ..... you have done well to bring out this incident . Sometimes nature reacts to all the abuse and then so many lives are lost. I wish people really did something about this whole environment misuse. Well Done.

[emo_snal]

It was actually an entirely natural phenomena, nothing to do with environmental misuse -- carbon dioxide seeps up from volcanic activity under the lake, and it's believed to have "turned over" many times in the past -- it just wasn't documented. The locals have legends that spirits from the lake come and kill people. People have since put pipes in to vent carbon dioxide out of the lower parts of the lake.

[mistearyusdiva2]

Carbon dioxide just like that huh ? Hmmm even sadder then . The occurrence has people more careful and prepared , so that maybe the good thing about the eruption. Though I still am upset that nature is forced to react ... in other cases if not really in this case ... and then incidents like this just tell us - we can never be too careful and neither can we be fully prepared.

[kehlen]

How horrible.

The villager's point of view is very believable.

[roina_arwen]

Wow, those before and after pics are amazing! Well done telling this from Joseph's POV.

[tatdatcm]

This was even more tragic to read it from Joseph's POV.