Locals in the Chinese city of Wenzhou woke up Thursday puzzled to find that their river was blood red.
A few people that were up and about at 5 a.m. said that everything was normal but then suddenly within the space of a few minutes the water started turning darker and eventually was completely red.
The really weird thing is that we have always been able to catch fish and you can even drink the water because it’s just normally so good. Nobody has any idea how it could have ended up being polluted because there are no factories that dump anything in the water here.
Wenzhou is a center for commerce on China’s eastern coast. It is also a center of Christian faith in China and is often referred to as China’s Jerusalem. After the river water turned red some residents posted on social media that the crimson waters were a sign of Armageddon — an event described in the (Christian) Bible as marking the end of the world.
That may not be true. ABC reports that while the Wenzhou Environmental Protection is still investigating, water samples indicate the color is a due to illegal dumping. Jianfeng Xiao, chief of the bureau told China News that the river is home to a food coloring company, a paper manufacturer, and clothing-maker.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZLumw9JopKiqnp67qHnMoq9or6Bkf3F9k2hncGdibny4tNhmm6KcXam1qr%2BMq6CvnaJitq95wqGgp5ldqcKzuoyrnJ1n