Instagrammers Are Taking Pics at a Turquoise Lake That’s Actually a Toxic Dump

• Instagrammers are flocking to a toxic blue lake in Siberia to take selfies.
• The lake is actually an “ash dump.”

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In what truly seems like some sort of metaphor for, IDK, humanity in 2019 or something, Instagrammers are flocking to a bright-blue lake in Siberia to take pics. And that lake, turns out (!!!), is a toxic dump.

The stunning blue water is understandably a huge draw for those of us who love taking pictures against pretty backgrounds (guilty), but tragically, many people have no idea that they’re posing next to the lake equivalent of a trash fire. A nearby coal-plant operator has even had to issue a warning, writing in a statement (per Buzzfeed), “You cannot swim in the ash dump” and “We ask that in the pursuit of the selfie not to fall into the ash dump!”

Wow, words to quite literally live by.

 

 

Apparently, the lake is technically a waste site for Heating and Electrical Station No. 5, and although the water isn’t poisonous and the radiation levels are normal, “skin contact with such water may cause an allergic reaction.”

Unfortunately, the words “ash dump” haven’t stopped aspiring influencers from flocking to this lake, and one person even went ahead and brought a swan pool floaty along for the ride. That swan was never heard from again (JK, but also not JK).

According to Buzzfeed, at least two unfortunate souls swam in the lake and ingested some water, with one saying it was “warm and tastes sweetish” and another saying it “tastes slightly sour, similar to chalk.”

Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.