Toxic "apocalyptic" black snow has blanketed a Siberian town - as locals fear for the safety of their kids.
Usually pristine white snowscapes in the industrial Kemerovo region have been transformed.
Pollution from coal plants have been blamed for the ghostly phenomenon blighting the cities of Prokopyevsk and Leninsk-Kuznetsky plus the town of Kiselyovsk.
One comment on the morbid scene from a worried local read: “Is this what snow looks like in hell?”
A picture shows the Russian word ПОМОГИТЕ - or "Help us" - scrawled in the grimy snow.
Residents have alleged there is a long-term lack of environmental protection in an region that’s lifeblood is coal, reports The Siberian Times.
One person said: “No cleansing systems, all the waste, dust and dirt, coal lay in the area. Our children and us are breathing it. It's just a nightmare."
Another said: “The future of our children is terrifying.”
Kemerovo is famous both as Russia’s leading coalmining region but also as home to Siberia’s best ski slopes, famed for an annual swimwear piste run.
So far the colourful slopes of resort Sheregesh have not been tarnished by the pollution hitting residents elsewhere in the region.
State prosecutors are now examining whether to bring criminal prosecutions for pollution.
Local media in Russia blame local coal processing plants, and highlighted how parked cars were caked with a thick lawyer of black grime.
One - called Prokopyevskaya - has accepted some responsibility.
Boss Anatoly Volkov told Vesti-Kuzbass TV channel that a shield to protect the air from coal power had stopped working.
Deputy governor of Kemerovo region Andrei Panov - in charge of ecology - is to meet local environmentalists to discuss the matter and also blames coal boilers and car exhausts as well as factories.
Usually pristine white snowscapes in the industrial Kemerovo region have been transformed.
Pollution from coal plants have been blamed for the ghostly phenomenon blighting the cities of Prokopyevsk and Leninsk-Kuznetsky plus the town of Kiselyovsk.
One comment on the morbid scene from a worried local read: “Is this what snow looks like in hell?”
A picture shows the Russian word ПОМОГИТЕ - or "Help us" - scrawled in the grimy snow.
Residents have alleged there is a long-term lack of environmental protection in an region that’s lifeblood is coal, reports The Siberian Times.
One person said: “No cleansing systems, all the waste, dust and dirt, coal lay in the area. Our children and us are breathing it. It's just a nightmare."
Another commented: “The government bans smoking in public. But let us inhale coal dust all together and let it reside in our lungs.”
Another said: “The future of our children is terrifying.”
Kemerovo is famous both as Russia’s leading coalmining region but also as home to Siberia’s best ski slopes, famed for an annual swimwear piste run.
So far the colourful slopes of resort Sheregesh have not been tarnished by the pollution hitting residents elsewhere in the region.
State prosecutors are now examining whether to bring criminal prosecutions for pollution.
Local media in Russia blame local coal processing plants, and highlighted how parked cars were caked with a thick lawyer of black grime.
One - called Prokopyevskaya - has accepted some responsibility.
Boss Anatoly Volkov told Vesti-Kuzbass TV channel that a shield to protect the air from coal power had stopped working.
Deputy governor of Kemerovo region Andrei Panov - in charge of ecology - is to meet local environmentalists to discuss the matter and also blames coal boilers and car exhausts as well as factories.
Music: "I Can Feel it Coming" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Source: The Sun, Siberian Times, Science Alert
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