Instagramers flock to toxic Siberian lake for ‘Maldives’ selfies
- Brightly coloured water at industrial dump site is result of harmful calcium oxides
- Location is an ash disposal site for a Novosibirsk energy plant
An industrial dump site in Siberia whose turquoise lake resembles a tropical paradise has become a magnet for Instagramers who risk their health in the toxic water to wow online followers.
Bikini-clad models, paddle-boarders and romantic couples are using a Novosibirsk energy plant’s ash dump site – nicknamed the local “Maldives” – as background for their snaps, posing as if relaxing in a holiday paradise.
But the Siberian Generating Company, which owns the site, says the lake’s bright colours are due to calcium oxides – substances found in quicklime and harmful to humans – diluted in shallow waters.
A spokeswoman said that the site “isn’t poisonous” but has very high acidity.
“The bottom of the ash disposal site is claylike, so if you fall there, it’s hard to get out,” she said.