A mysterious lake appeared in Tunisia in just one night (4 photos)

At the beginning of July 2014 in Tunisia, next to the road leading to city of Gafsa, a lake 20 meters deep suddenly appeared. Local a resident of Mehdi Bilel was returning home the next morning after a stormy wedding of his acquaintances. And suddenly I came across a large lake, gleaming under scorching sun, right in the middle of a scorched desert.





Mehdi remembered this place exactly and knew that there was no lake yet. was not here yesterday. He began to complain that he had gone too far the day before, and this hallucinations. Plus an hour of walking in the heat.



But Mehdi did not imagine anything. This was confirmed by local shepherds, who also came to look at the lake.

The lake actually materialized out of nowhere.

People joyfully rushed into it to bathe and drink water, which looked perfectly clean. However, this was very reckless, because water from here can undermine health. To understand this, you need to disassemble history of the lake.

The exact cause was not established, but they found the most probable explanation. There was a small earthquake that destroyed rock covering groundwater. And the water burst out powerfully flow.

Lake Gafsa quickly became a local landmark, where tourists flock to. They dived from picturesque cliffs, swam with scuba diving.





Why is the water of Lake Gafsa dangerous and why do doctors strongly recommend not doing this?

There are many phosphates in this area and the water here is carcinogenic. It contains radioactive substances.

One of the largest phosphate deposits in the country is being developed in Gafsa. For Tunisia, this is an important export item.



Now the water has changed color from the purest turquoise to hazy green. The reason is that the inflow of new groundwater has weakened and the water in the lake became stagnant. This makes the situation even worse, because now there may be harmful microorganisms in the water.