It is the last thing the residents of Chongqing would have expected to see.
But the Yangtze river, which runs through the city in south-western China, turned a bright shade of orange-red yesterday.
The waterway where the Yangtze met the Jialin River provided a fascinating contrast as the red started to filter into the other river.
Meeting point: A ship sails across the junction of the polluted Yangtze River (left) and the Jialin River in Chongqing, China, yesterday
Shock: The Yangtze river, which runs through the city in south-western China, turned a bright shade of orange-red yesterday
Dirty/clean: A ship sails across the junction of the Yangtze River and the Jialin River at the exact spot where the dyed river starts to bleed into the Jialin
In the thick of it: A fisherman goes about his daily business
While officials investigate the cause of the colouring, one fisherman went about his daily business as if nothing had happened.
Others were so amazed that they collected samples in water bottles.
Although the cause is yet to be determined, this is not the first time a river has turned red in China.
Last December, the Jian River in the city of Luoyang, in the north Henan province, turned red after becoming polluted by a powerful dye.
The dye was being dumped into the city's storm drain network by two illegal dye workshops.
Officials raided the factories to shut them down, and then disassembled their machinery.
According to chapter 16, verse 4 of the Bible's book of Revelations, one of the signs that Armageddon is near will be an angel pouring a bowl into the rivers, turning them into blood.
Bizarre: The red river gave Chongqing an apocalyptic appearance yesterday
Check it out! Some residents were so amazed that they collected samples in water bottles
Close-up: Whatever it was that dyed the river was almost orange in colour
Irregular occurrence: A couple make the most of the rare opportunity to get up close to a red river
Thick dye: The Yangtze river washes up on and stains a tiled floor
Replies
as i was reading this i knew someone would put the bible reference in their, if it is to turn red it will be nuclear discharge of great magnitude to cause that.
Pretty bizarre. I know that it has happened in the past in different paces around the world. Most have been explained away, if you believe in what the Govt says.
You do realize thishappens frequently in many water systems from algaes and other things like said in the article about the dye.