A gas eruption from the crater lake killed 1,746 people and over 3,500 livestock on August 21, 1986.
By George MBELLA
August 21, 2017 marked 31 years since Lake Nyos became sadly famous for causing the deaths of 1,746 people and 3,500 livestock. The locality situated near Wum in the North West Region went dead that fateful night after an eruption from beneath the lake caused the release of over one million tons of carbon dioxide which formed a cloud and rushed down the slopes of the crater lake. The gas killed people and animals by asphyxiation in villages situated within 25 kilometres.
The sad event brought in scientists from around the world to determine the cause of the disaster while over 1,000 survivors from nearby villages were resettled away from the risk zone.
Scientists established that the carbon dioxide seeps through the lake bed from a magma chamber beneath the region. Lake Nyos and Lake Monoun in Cameroon as well as Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo are the only three lakes in the world known to be saturated with carbon dioxide.
In 2001, a degassing project was installed in the lake to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in Lake Nyos to reduce the risk of further eruptions.
