Mohammed Musa Abdulahi woke up Saturday morning sick and lethargic. The day before he fell ill and lay down right in the school building. Abdulahi went to the house and suddenly noticed that on the streets of his village, in the North-Western Cameroon, reigns frightening silence. Roads and yards of Soboma were littered with corpses. People were lying as if he died on the go or in the middle of a conversation with a neighbor. All dead dog, all the cattle, from the trees fell dead birds and insects.

So on August 21, 1986 in the village on the shores of lake NRENs were killed 11 members of the family Abdulahi and even 1700 his compatriots. He has survived only because he was in a closed Cabinet, at school, built on a hill.

NRENs - lake extraordinary beauty is surrounded mainly cultivated fields, picturesque rocks and green hills. Pearl-gray surface serenely quiet, but deep continuously accumulation of explosive force. The NREN is the crater once an active volcano, after the eruption of which five centuries ago on the bottom left of magmatic tube. It was cooled down and pressed under the pressure of the water. Such lakes around the world a lot, but only two can kill all life on their shores. The second lake is Monon - is located 95 kilometers South-East from the NRENs. And they are ready at any moment to explode.

Because of the deep volcanic activity, which is still ongoing, carbon dioxide is constantly rises through the pores in magmatic breed. Meets with groundwater dissolves in them and with them into the lake. In the bottom layers of the lake accumulates infernal mixture which does not mix with the upper layers. Usually in a crater lakes water periodically mixed, carbonated water rise to the surface, and gases without harm to the surrounding nature dispersed in the atmosphere. But in the NRENs and Monona border between layers is not disturbed.

Gas continues to saturate the deeper layers of water until some external event to disturb them. This can be a strong wind and waves, unusually cold weather (when the upper layers of the water cool and descend to a depth), landslide or earthquake. Part of the deep water rises from the bottom, carbon dioxide is released from the solution and bubbles rushes up, pulling even more bottom waters. The inertia of the process increases rapidly: a few bubbles turn into a jet of gas, and, finally, as from an open bottle of champagne, a highly carbonated water fountain breaks up. In 1986 in the NRENs such "fountain" beat to a height of 80 meters, and everything was drowned in a cloud of carbon dioxide.

Heavy, two times heavier than air, gas was down to the lake shore and strangled all alive on its way. When in August 1984 exploded lake Monoun, killing 37 people. Lake NRENs more and more deeply, so its lethality would claim more lives. The cloud of gas is distributed around the area at speeds of more than 70 kilometers per hour and quickly gets even to the villages, located in 20 kilometers from the lake. The last, who died from the explosion of NRENs, was a girl, the next morning after the eruption came down the hill into the valley, filled with gas.

Lake NRENs will explode again. According to the latest data, now in the lake in two times more carbon dioxide than it was during previous explosion (0,4 cubic kilometer now and only 0,17 cubic kilometers in 1986). A disaster can destroy the fragile dam in the Northern part of the lake, and then his water will escape to the territory of Nigeria, where would flood the habitats of more than 10,000 people.

Despite the fact that after the disaster of 1986 3500 people were evacuated from the shores of the lake and settled in safe areas, many back - they are attracted by the fertility of the local land and rich vegetation. Corn fields in the South suited to the water, on the slopes of the hills grazing cattle, which looked after the shepherds Fulani tribe. Besides in the beginning of 90-s some European researchers released in fishless long poisoned its inhabitants, lake tilapia - fish of the species ciklidas. This experiment has led to the fact that the fish bred in large numbers, and the locals are not seriously interested in fishing.

In 1999 in Cameroon arrived international group of scientists to investigate deadly lake and, if possible, to find a way to deliver him from the poison gas accumulating in depth. But the distance from large settlements complicates the task: to thoroughly examine and especially to Degas the lake in a hurry impossible. Although the project degassing exist, there is no money. Not helped to collect them even the assistance of UNESCO. After all charitable organizations accustomed to correct the consequences of the occurrence of disasters, not to prevent them.

Scientists offer a very simple procedure degassing lake - bring on the bottom of the pipe, to give vent gas. Preliminary tests have already been carried out, not only on the NREN, but on the second deadly lake - Manon - exploded a few months before the NRENs. A bypass pipe of quite work.

And the government is worried by another problem - he did not manage to dispel the rumors, stubbornly walking in Cameroon - as though on the NRENs have experienced Israeli or American neutron bomb. While people think so, they will be safe to return to dangerous for different reasons.