These clouds had come due to the carelessness of a pump

Santiago: Residents of the Chilean city of Pozo Almonte were taken by surprise on Sunday when ominous purple clouds appeared over the city in the morning. Citizens were worried about this mysterious cloud and they complained to the local authorities. After which the investigation of these mysterious clouds started. In the pictures posted on Twitter, a purple-coloured fog can be seen in the sky over the city.

Chilean officials claimed the clouds were caused by a pump failure at the Cala mine, owned by the Saltpeter and Iodine Company. Actually, due to the release of iodine vapor, when heated in the gaseous state, its color becomes purple. Daniel Quinteros, representative of the Tarapaca region, said that no health problems of any kind have been reported due to these clouds.

Christian Ibáez, deputy chief of Chile’s Tarapaca region, told Sun News that, “Our observations have found that this purple-sky incident was caused by a failure of the motor of the impeller pump. In this regard, we are also in touch with the Superintendent of Environment to lodge a complaint for negligence in compliance with the rules made by the company in this matter. The officials monitored the clouds for about 48 hours.