Fact-Check: Video From Laguna Roja in Chile Viral as Nile River 'Turning Red'

This video shows Laguna Roja in Chile and not the Nile River.

Fact-check: The video does not show the Nile River turning red in colour. It shows Laguna Roja from Chile, which is naturally red.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video showing a red-coloured water body is going viral on social media to claim that it shows the Nile River.

The claim also states that this is a sign of "doomsday," which is explained in some religious books as the last day of the world's existence.

An archive of this post can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(Archives of more claims can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: The video shows Laguna Roja in northern Chile and not the Nile River.

• This water body gets its red colour because of the presence of algae and a high concentration of salt.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a relevant keyword search and found several reports about a lake named Laguna Roja in northern Chile.

• An article by BBC Science Focus stated that Laguna Roja, a water body 12,000 feet above sea level amidst the Andes mountains of Chile gets its red colour because of the presence of algae and a high concentration of salt.

• It also mentioned that scientists from the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Chilean University of Antofagasta are studying microorganisms in the water.

The article can be seen here.

(Source: BBC Science Focus/Screenshot)

• Another report by Forbes stated that the Atacama Desert is home to three different coloured lakes/lagoons - red, green and yellow.

Comparison between the visuals: We found several other images that matched the mountain terrain in the viral video.

Laguna Roja is red in colour.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

• We were able to geolocate Laguna Roja on Google Maps and found a photo sphere which also matched the terrain seen in the viral video.

Laguna Roja is located in Chile.

(Source: Altered by The Quint)

• We also found a similar image of the lake on a stock image website, Alamy, which also confirmed the location of the lake to be Chile.

Conclusion: Clearly, a video showing a red-coloured water body from Chile was falsely shared as the Nile River "turning red".

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