Hundreds of Russian Instragrammers have been kicked out of a toxic dumping ground in just a week after they began flocking there because it resembles a tropical paradise.
Guards have been posted outside the ‘Siberian Seychelles’ and an access road dug up to prevent the attention-hungry internet users from reaching the site, but they have simply taken to walking there instead.
The deep blue water and white sand at the dumping site has made it a favourite backdrop for Instagram shots, but authorities warn the pool is actually a highly toxic dumping ground for a nearby coal power plant.
Authorities now plan to build a fence around the site – officially called Lake Ash Dump – in order to stop people reaching it.
Guards have been brought in to stop Instagrammers from getting to a ‘beauty spot’ near the Russian city of Novosibirsk because it’s actually a toxic waste dump that is dangerous to health
Authorities have also dug up an access road to the site, but people are simply parking up and walking down to the pool instead
Two hundred attention-hungry internet users have been kicked out of the site in just a week, authorities claim, as they plan to build a fence to stop them
There is even a plan for police be drafted in to hold back the Instgrammers.
Prosecutors have also been called in to test the air and water quality around the dump amid fears it breaches safety limits.
It comes after one man – 22-year-old Alexey Cherenkov – was left with red marks all over his body after swimming in the lake.
The lake near Novosibirsk, the country’s third city, looks like an dream beach scene but is in fact a poisonous chemical cocktail of waste spewed from a nearby brown coal-burning power plant called TPP-5.
Regional state prosecutors ‘have organised a check in connection with mass media reports about the so-called Novosibirsk Maldives – the ash dump at TPP-5,’ said an official statement.
They warned of ‘comprehensive’ legal measures if safety laws have been flouted at the site which is run by the Siberian Generating Company (SGC).
The site has been dubbed the Siberian Seychelles by internet users, but its real name is Lake Ash Dump and its purpose is to store waste from a nearby coal power plant
Prosecutors are being brought in to test the air and water quality at the dump amid fears that it could breach regulations
The lake became popular because of its turquoise blue waters and white sands, but these are actually caused by huge amounts of chemicals in the water
Urgent checks will be made on the air and water quality, said regional environmental prosecutor Alexander Baryshnikov.
Fencing is expected to be ordered to prevent trespassers.
‘We will look at the state of the pit. This is a technical reservoir,’ said Baryshnikov.
SGC claimed today that 200 visitors had been removed from the lakeside.
‘Our guards ask people to leave the ash dump territory,’ said a spokesman.
‘People have reacted in a calm and kind way. There were no conflicts so far.
‘There is no fence there, it is not required by technical rules.’
Vehicles are being blocked ‘but we cannot prohibit pedestrians from entering’.
While Instagrammers have been flocking to the spot, it has proved popular for other photographers as well. Here, a Russian bride poses next to the water
Russians have even been bringing their families down to the lakeside in order to get a picture
Visitors are being urged not to swim in the lake after one man ended up covered in red marks after entering the water
Cherenkov said of his swim: ‘The smell the water is like lime, with the aroma of whitewash, chalk.’
The red marks on his skin lasted two days, he said.
‘I had to reduce my workouts, and now I have difficulties in moving around.
‘But I am embarrassed to contact a doctor.’
He wanted to highlight to people that they should not go to the lake.
‘There is a muddy bottom that can suck you down,’ he warned.
‘People may even just come close, but still drown…. I would not recommend anyone to visit this place.’
Local photographer Mikhail Reshetnikov who took pictures with a model at the lake posted, that on his first visit ‘we did not notice any fences, danger warnings or checkpoints, but there was a strong smell of household chemicals in the air…
This lake near Russia’s third largest city Novosibirsk has become a magnet to Instagram fans for idyllic beach pictures and videos
The glamorous paradise images defy the bone-cracking stereotypes of Siberia
The bright blue water has a high PH and contains dissolved metal oxides
This ‘paradise’ is also referred to as the Russian Maldives (Pictured: Woman poses for photo sitting cross legged by the water)
‘And the colour of the water hinted that you shouldn’t swim in it.
He felt a small akin to carpet cleaner in his car for a week after his visit.
‘After that, the desire to photograph there was greatly diminished.’
He went back with a TV crew after the lake went viral around thew world and ‘the entrances were dug up by a bulldozer.
But this did not prevent access and people were posing in the lake.
‘It is beautiful, but scary … perhaps this is something like Chernobyl ,’ he said.
The company behind the power station is owned by 47 year old tycoon Andrey Melnichenko – worth £10.75 billion – and famed for his ocean-going Sailing Yacht A and Motor Yacht A.
The electric blue waters of the lake are formed by a chemical reaction from the waste of the power plant.
Its name is translated as Lake Ash Dump (Picture: Woman poses for photo in a red swimsuit with lake in the background)
Swimming is probated and visitors flocking to the tropical-looking site are warned by the company that strolling along the beach here ‘is like walking at a military training ground – dangerous and undesirable’
The company is owned by 47 year old tycoon Andrey Melnichenko – worth £10.75 billion – and famed for his ocean-going Sailing Yacht A and Motor Yacht A
Visitors are warned: ‘This water is used only to transport ash. Skin contact with such water may cause local allergic reactions due to high mineralisation’
The company warned: ‘We beg you not to fall into the ash dump in the pursuit of selfies.
‘That is the biggest danger.’
Swimming is probated and visitors flocking to the tropical-looking site are warned by the company that strolling along the beach here ‘is like walking at a military training ground – dangerous and undesirable’.
They are told: ‘This is not a city beach – there are no lifeguards on the shore and there cannot be…
‘The water in the ash dump is not for drinking, but technical, that is, it contains dissolved salts of calcium and other metal oxides, as well as high pH.
‘This water is used only to transport ash.
‘Skin contact with such water may cause local allergic reactions due to high mineralisation.’
Authorities are seeking to keep the flood of visitors away from the lake
The waters pose a serious danger to health (Pictured: Woman poses in front of lake)
Ecological campaigner Ulyana Artamonova was filmed as if she was on a tropical beach but she said: ‘After visiting, my face was covered with a small rash’