Image shows Laguna Roja, a red lake in Chile, not the Nile River | Fact check
The claim: Image shows that the Nile River has turned red
A Nov. 15 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows an image of red water that appears to be a screenshot of a video posted on X, formerly Twitter.
Captions in the X posts read: "Breaking: Parts of the Nile River have turned red. It is unclear why," and "First born sons watch out." The latter is a reference to the Bible's 10 plagues, which included the Nile turning to blood and the death of all firstborn sons in Egypt.
The post garnered more than 1,900 likes in one day.
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Our rating: False
The image shows Laguna Roja − a red-colored lake in Chile − not the Nile River, which is located in eastern Africa.
Image shows lake in Chile, not Nile River
The topography shown in the video on X matches that shown in pictures of Laguna Roja on multiple tourism-related websites. Arial images shown on one of the websites also match satellite images of the lake on Google Maps.
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A tourism website operated by the Chilean government reports that the red color is thought to be related to area sediments and microbial communities.
USA TODAY reached out to the Instagram user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response. The X users could not be reached.
The Associated Press also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources:
Google Maps, accessed Nov. 16, Laguna Roja
Chile Travel, Sept. 15, Red Lagoon: an unmissable enigma of northern Chile (Google translate)
Go Chile, accessed Nov. 16, Excursion to the Red Lagoon (Google translate)
My Best Place Around the World, accessed Nov. 16, Laguna Roja, a natural wonder enveloped by mystery
Trip Advisor, accessed Nov. 16, Laguna Roja
Civitatis, accessed Nov. 16, Red Lagoon day trip
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Red water in viral post from Chile lake, not Nile River | Fact check
