The Night the Lake Exploded

Name: The Night the Lake Exploded
Genre: Documentary

A silent, invisible cloud escapes Lake Nyos and leaves entire communities—and thousands of animals—dead.

Episode one is free. The rest of the series needs All Access.

Transcript

An invisible cloud left a quiet lake and silenced whole villages before dawn.
On August 21st, 1986, families slept below Lake Nyos in northwestern Cameroon.
Earlier, witnesses reported a small explosion, then a water jet beneath a white plume.
At about 10 p.m., witnesses reported a major detonation from the lake.
Then an estimated 100,000–300,000 tons of carbon dioxide burst from the water.
Denser than air, it sank through valleys, staying deadly for 14 to 16 miles.
As it reached a village, one resident sensed something was terribly wrong. I can't breathe.
The valleys that once sheltered these communities trapped a killer they could not see.
It swept through Nyos, Kam, Cha and Subum, killing about 1,700–1,800 people. Thousands of livestock died beside them before morning.
One survivor in Subum, Joseph Nkwain, later described his final conscious moments. I could not speak. Then I became unconscious.
By morning, silence covered Subum—but inside one house, someone stirred.
In Subum, Joseph Nkwain opened his eyes—and realized his daughter was not waking up…

But the lake itself had done the killing—and beneath its calm surface, the invisible weapon had been stored for years.

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