On Tuesday, over the suburbs of Norilsk was a "bloody" rain, which caused concern among local residents and a stir in social networks. Almost immediately, the press service of MMC Norilsk Nickel explained the atypical color of the precipitation with red-brown dust, raised by a gust of wind from the roof of one of the shops of the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant.

In Norilsk, near the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant (NMP), rain of red color fell out. Photos and videos of an unusual "natural" phenomenon eyewitnesses spread in social networks. Crimson puddles and soiled cars on the company's parking lot seriously frightened the citizens.

The press service of MMC Norilsk Nickel, which owns the plant, explained that a few days ago cleaning took place on the roof of the shop for the production of elemental sulfur. The roof was cleaned of old straits from the technological slurry pipeline, which is located in close proximity to the roof. The collected material of red-brown color was prepared for export, scheduled for July 5. However, bad weather interfered in these plans. Left on the roof of unusual garbage picked up a gust of wind and mixed it with rain, as a result, the site in front of the plant turned a purple color.

The territory on which the fact of staining is recorded is limited to parking near the NMZ, which indicates a one-time nature of the accident, "the Norilsk Nickel said, adding that the plant management apologized to car owners whose cars were flooded with bloody rain, and the parking lot has already been shown in order.

Now the control and analytical department of the Polar Division of MMC is analyzing the collected material, the company noted. According to some reports, it is a matter of ordinary rust accumulated on the roof of the shop.

NMZ has already found itself at the center of an environmental scandal. In September 2016, Rosprirodnadzor initiated a verification of the contamination of the Daldykan River in Norilsk. "The Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia began to receive calls from residents of Norilsk about the contamination of the Daldikan River by an unidentified chemical that dyed the water in bright red," the ministry said. The proceedings, which was conducted by Norilsk Nickel, established that on September 5, 2016, as a result of abnormal rains, water was transferred through one of the filtration dams of the Nadezhda Metallurgical Plant to the Daldykan River. "Despite the short-term staining of water in the river with iron salts, this incident does not pose a threat to people or fauna of the river," they said at Norilsk Nickel.