On 21 August 1986 the tragedy of Lake Nyos left 1,800 people dead. They suffocated in what is known as a “lake overturn” in Cameroon. “Lake overturns” are natural phenomena: carbon dioxide erupts from deep lakes, suffocating animals and people on or near the lake.
According to the BBC, the Nyos disaster prompted a survey of deep lakes in Africa and Indonesia. All appear safe, except for Rwanda’s Lake Kivu, which has two million people living near its shores.
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