Sinkhole As Big As A 16-Storey Building Appears Overnight In Russia

A massive sinkhole that appeared overnight in Russia has been labelled the 'gate to hell' by locals who are terrified that another could open up underneath their homes. Check it out in the video below:

The vast hole, which is 105 ft wide and 165 ft deep, is large enough to swallow a 16 storey building.

It opened up seemingly overnight near to the village of Neledino in the Nizhny Novgorod region, which has just 111 residents.

Although no one was hurt, it is reported that children in the village are petrified by the thought of another hole opening up in the night and swallowing their homes while they sleep.

Central European News

Local resident Yelena told the Daily Mail: "The sink hole is so close to our village.

"There is no guarantee that another one will not appear right in the middle of it - or worse, under a house.

"We are very concerned indeed.

"Children have seen the hole and many are worried the same thing might suddenly happen when they are asleep at night."

Central European News

The giant sinkhole was found by mushroom pickers. They alerted the farmer who owned the land, who quickly called the police.

Police cordoned off the area around the potentially dangerous hole to prevent curious onlookers from getting too close.

A police spokesperson said: "The ground collapsed in an agricultural field, which belongs to a private farmer, and is only two kilometres (1.2 miles) away from nearby homes.

"Based on the information we have, this field hasn't been used for the past two years."

Central European News

The Ministry for Emergency Situations is following the incident closely and investigating what might have caused the giant hole to suddenly open up.

They said the sinkhole was most likely the result of soluble rocks underground getting dissolved - and was not caused by explosions like similar holes that have been opening up recently in the Russian Arctic, which are the products of exploding methane gas escaping from thawing permafrost.

Sinkholes are a common phenomenon worldwide and can appear over time or suddenly.

This one rocked up just 93 miles from the stadium where England smashed Panama 6-1 in their second game of the World Cup.

Topics: World News, Interesting, Weird, Russia

Nathan Standley

Nathan Standley is a freelance journalist and LADBible contributor. He graduated from Durham University with a degree in Anthropology before going on to do a Master’s degree in Journalism at the University of Sheffield. He also writes articles for The Versed and is the Cultural Editor of The Common Sense Network.