Lake Abducted in Russia

A Russian village was recently left mystified after its lake literally disappeared overnight.

NTV television showed pictures of a giant muddy hole bathed in summer sun, while fishermen from the village of Bolotnikovo, on the Volga river east of Moscow, looked on disconsolately. Witnesses say the lake appears to have disappeared into the ground, taking nearby trees with it. It was not the first time something like this had happened. A similar incident about 70 years ago sucked in several houses around the lake. Officials in the Nizhegorodskaya region said water in the lake might have been sucked down into an underground watercourse or cave system, but some villagers had more sinister explanations. "I am thinking, well, America has finally got to us," said one old woman, as she sat on the ground outside her house.

Reuters, May 19, 2005