The Chinese village that's being swallowed by sinkholes after 20 cave-ins in  just five months

By Jill Reilly

PUBLISHED:16:20 GMT, 14  January 2013| UPDATED:19:22 GMT, 14 January 2013

The land in a Chinese village is quite literally disappearing before the residents' eyes with large sinkholes swallowing up vast spaces.

In the past five months villagers from Lianyuan in southern China's Hunan Province have been left alarmed after seeing over 20 holes suddenly open up in the ground.

From  last September the cave-ins, which range in size, have seen houses collapse and rivers dry and left villagers terrified about where the next will be.

Initial investigation showed reckless coal mining has damaged the underground water  system and caused cave-ins in farm fields and riverbanks in recent months, the China News Service reported today.

Over 4,000 villages have now been left with a water supply problem as land subsidence has blocked some creeks, reported Sina.

Holes: According to the Lianyuan government, preliminary  investigations found that the coalmines are the main reason for the cave-ins

FULL STORY: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2262219/That-sinking-feelin...