The heartbreaking truth behind the image of the arctic river dyed red like blood

Arctic - the name only heard and imagined white. A white world, with icy seas and almost cold all-year-round lands.

Of course, white is not the only color here. The Arctic has plants, some animals are not white, and sometimes appears red because of their survival battles. However, if a river suddenly turns red, it's a different story, and that's the story.

Specifically, a river in the Arctic Belt suddenly turned red as blood , and that was the result of 20,000 tons of diesel spilled due to an incident from a Nikel production plant near the city of Norilsk in Siberia. According to Russian Federation authorities, the oil spilled into the Ambarnaya River , staining the 12km long water around the plant. In addition, 800 tons of oil spilled, infiltrating the soil.

The river is dyed red in Siberia

The incident led President Vladimir Putin to declare a national emergency, while emergency situation minister Yevgeny Zinichev had to fly to the scene to direct the urgent cleaning. Authorities claimed the cleanup was speeding up, and prevented oil from spilling into the sea (though tests were needed to confirm this information). However, the consequences of this oil spill will cause the water and soil around the river to be contaminated for at least another decade.

On June 3, authorities successfully removed about 800 cubic meters of contaminated soil and 262 tons of diesel pump out of the water. "The level of pollution in the country exceeds the permissible limit up to ten thousand times,"  said Svetlana Radionova, director of Rosprirodnadzor, an environmental monitoring organization.

This oil spill will affect the animals - such as fish, birds, animals - living around the area.

Conservationists are concerned that the incident will adversely affect the natural environment and the lives of animals - such as fish, birds, animals - that inhabit the area.

"Diesel is more toxic than crude oil, and this situation is having a very large impact," - Alexey Knizhnikov from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (WWF) Russia.

Russian President Putin was also unhappy about the situation. Authorities only knew about the incident after 2 days, when the photos were spread on social networks. During the press conference, Putin openly criticized the local authorities, for handling it too late.

"Why do local governments only know about the story after 2 days? Should we detect emergency situations using social media?" - quoting Mr. Putin's question.