Lake Nyos: The Night a Lake Killed 1,700 People

On the night of August 21, 1986, families living beneath Lake Nyos in Cameroon went to sleep with no reason to believe they were in danger. By morning, roughly 1,700 people were dead. There was no massive fire. No flood had swept through the villages. No lava had destroyed their homes. In many places, almost everything was still standing. The killer was the air itself. Lake Nyos had suddenly released an enormous amount of carbon dioxide stored deep beneath its surface. Invisible and heavier than the surrounding air, the gas traveled downhill into valleys and villages, displacing the oxygen people and animals needed to survive. In this episode of Yore Town, Matt digs into the unbelievable true story of the Lake Nyos disaster, including: • How a peaceful crater lake became a massive natural reservoir of carbon dioxide • What may have triggered the catastrophic release • Why victims had almost no warning and little chance to escape • The similar disaster that had occurred in Cameroon just two years earlier • How scientists discovered Lake Nyos was slowly becoming dangerous again • The remarkable degassing system designed to prevent another catastrophe • Why scientists still monitor Lake Nyos today • The mystery about August 21, 1986 that still hasn't been completely settled Forty years after the disaster, Lake Nyos is still there. It's still beautiful. And deep beneath its surface, carbon dioxide continues to enter the lake. That's what makes this story so unsettling. Yore Town explores the strange, dark, and unbelievable true stories of real places. Follow Yore Town so you don't miss next week's story. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.