By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Thousands of years of volcanic activity has caused a massive accumulation of methane and carbon dioxide to dissolve in the depths of Kivu lake in Rwanda.
This is the reason Rwandan government officials have transformed the gas to electricity.
“This is what we call a killer lake,” the limnologist, or an expert in freshwater systems, told AFP.
Only three such lakes exist in the world: Kivu, and Lakes Nyos and Monoun in northwest Cameroon.
The latter two experienced limnic eruptions in the 1980s, and the bigger disaster at Nyos suffocated more than 1,700 people in a toxic release of carbon dioxide.
But these catastrophes occurred in a rural area, whereas some two million people would be “at risk” of such a similar disaster involving Kivu, said Darchambeau.
In both Rwanda and DR Congo, many live in fear of the lake’s harmful potential, and stories abound of swimmers disappearing into its depths after being asphyxiated or pulled under.