Experts claim the water system will take “decades to recover” after 20,000 tonnes of diesel fuel spilled from a power plant.
It happened last Few days in the Siberian industrial city of Norilsk, 1,800 miles (2,900km) northeast of Moscow.
The state environment watchdog said 15,000 tonnes of oil products had seeped into the river system, which turned the water crimson, with another 6,000 into the subsoil – causing a fire and contaminating a 350 sq km (135 sq mile) area.
The city is built around Norilsk Nickel, the world’s leading nickel and palladium producer