The village that always sleeps: Residents of Kalachi just can’t stay awake

The people of Kalachi in Kazakhstan are getting have been getting more than 40 winks over the past two years – and the reason is a bit of a mystery.

People experiencing the condition reported identical complaints including dizziness, weakness, loss of coordination and an unconscious or semi-conscious state for up to three days. Furthermore, some victims were also suffering from hallucinations. 

Victims typically fall asleep very suddenly at any time of day and night, and often cannot be woken for a few days. Some people remember nothing when they wake up and complain of drowsiness, while others say they’ve seen terrible things. 

Residents are understandably worried given that a ninth wave of the unidentified sickness has just hit the area. Over 150 cases of the disease have been reported since March 2013, when it first struck the area. 

Experts are concerned that the mystery illness could spread to outside the confines of the village – however, there is another theory.

Professor Leonid Rikhvanov, who works at Russia’s Tomsk Polytechnic University, thinks that the sickness could be caused by a disused uranium mine located nearby. 

He believes radon gas could be leaking from the installation, which was built by the Soviet Union, and into the population. 

He told newsweek: “In my opinion, a gas factor is at work here. Radon could be operating as a narcotic substance or an anesthetic. Currently, the underground space of the mine is flooded and gases are being squeezed to the surface.” 

If professor Rikhvanov is correct, the illness could spread as the gas does.

However, others are favouring a psychological explanation – that it is all down to a mass hysteria.