'GATE TO HELL' Terrified locals FRANTIC as giant hole appears in field

A MASSIVE hole that has suddenly appeared in a field has been dubbed the "gate to hell" by worried locals. The hole appeared overnight in a farmer's field near the village of Neledino in the Shatkovsky District of central Russia's Nizhny Novgorod Oblast region.

It measures 32 metres (105 feet) across and is 50 metres (164 feet) deep - enough to swallow a 16 storey building.

Police were called to the scene after they were alerted by the worried farmer.

Cops taped off an area around the hole to prevent people from going too close in case it get bigger and they fell in.

A police spokesman 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."

The Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations is now monitoring the incident and investigating the cause of the hole.

It is believed to be a sinkhole caused by the dissolution of soluble rocks.

Sinkholes can form gradually or suddenly, and are found worldwide Video footage of the hole, shot by a drone, has sparked an online debate with commentators offering their own explanations.

Netizen 'Aleksandr Petrov' said: "It looks like this hole wasn't created overnight, and it was sliding down gradually."

'Chto Opjat' asked: "What happened there? Someone was having a picnic?"

And 'SOWETSKY 52' added: "I have only one question, why was the grass cut everywhere except around the hole? Was it done on purpose?"