A river in Russia that appeared to be full of blood apparently has a non-Biblical reason for turning red.
Photos of the Daldykan River, located near the city of Norilsk close to the Arctic Circle, started to reportedly pop up on social media, showing the water’s startling color.
Red river near Russia’s Norilsk after a Norilsk Nickel accident, indigenous group says https://t.co/hhQUu6yARc pic.twitter.com/VqVpwYRupw
— Maria Antonova (@mashant) September 7, 2016
Though Russian authorities haven’t given an official reason for the river’s redness, according to ABC News, the highly polluted city surrounds factories. Residents on social media speculated that runoff from a smelting plant could be the source, while others said it could be wastewater mixed with mineral ore leaking into the river from a metals plant. Russia’s Environment Ministry issued a statement saying that preliminary information suggests the leak could be coming from the vast metals company Norilsk Nickel and its waste pipes, ABC reported. The company reportedly denied it was the cause, stating: “As far as we know, the color of the river today is not different from its normal state,”according to Mashable.
