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)
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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