Chah or Cha is a village in Northwest Province of

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

that was abandoned after the

Lake Nyos disaster On 21 August 1986, a limnic eruption at Lake Nyos in northwestern Cameroon killed 1,746 people and 3,500 livestock. The eruption triggered the sudden release of about 100,000–300,000 tons (1.6 million tons, according to some sources) of c ...

of 1986, an eruption of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...

from nearby

Lake Nyos Lake Nyos ( ) is a crater lake in the Region of Cameroon, located about northwest of Yaoundé, the capital. Nyos is a deep lake high on the flank of an inactive volcano in the Oku volcanic plain along the Cameroon line of volcanic activity ...

that killed many of its inhabitants. A recurrence of the eruption is believed to be possible, even likely, and there are additional concerns about the stability of the natural rock wall that holds back the lake water. However, the area is reported as being highly fertile, and there are pressures to resettle the area, despite the great natural risks.

References

Former populated places in Cameroon Northwest Region (Cameroon) Populated places disestablished in 1986 {{Cameroon-geo-stub