Environment

Blood Rain in Siberia

Sometimes it seems to rain blood in Siberia. That's what some locals thought on Tuesday (July 3) when a crimson-colored downpour spilled over a parking lot in the industrial town of Norilsk.

The real explanation — at least the one provided by the local Nornickelmetallurgical plant that took responsibility for the ominous downpour is that factory officials were in the midst of scraping huge amounts of iron oxide residue (rust) off the factory's floor and roof to improve environmental health and safety. Unfortunately, someone forgot to put a lid on the cache of rusty, dusty detritus, and "a gust of wind blew it over the parking lot while the rain caused it to fall," Nornickel representatives said in a statement. The rain mixed with the dust, and thus a storm of "blood" filled the factory parking lot.