How Could the Lake Have Exploded Without Warning?

After the disaster experts wondered, why did so many of the victims smell sulphur and feel hot? The gas they collected was carbon dioxide, c o two, which at very high concentrations can cause headaches, dizziness and even suffocation and death. But if the c o two had been stored in the lake, as george suspected, how could the lake have exploded without warning? If something caused a disruption, say a falling rock, it could trigger an eruption of c o two out of the lake. A landslide scar above the cliff surrounding the lake may have been where the gas was stored before the disaster.