Kalachi, a village in Kazakhstan located in the Esil District of Akmola Region, was reported to have suffered from what we call the ‘sleep syndrome’. Back in 2014, it was reported that over a fifth of the population was affected by a possible medical disease in humans termed as ‘sleepy hollows’ causing them to sleep for days or weeks at a stretch. People in this village slide into a state of deep sleep accompanied by hallucinations. Speculations have it that the villagers have considered moving out of the village due to the absurdity of the epidemic which has consumed its residents.
The doctors and nurses have said that people in the village fall asleep for almost six days mysteriously and wake up with a headache and an increased sexual desire. It was reported in a local magazine that people who faced this issue would walk consciously but at the same time fall into deep sleep and snore. On waking up, they would remember absolutely nothing. This has affected people of all age group. From oldsters to children, people have claimed to have had seen winged horses, snakes in their beds and worms eating their hands.
This mystery illness has attracted a lot of attention and multiple speculations suggest that the location of the village is the reason behind such strange occurrence of events. It is said that the village, Kalachi, is located near a Soviet-era uranium mine. On investigation by the government of Kazakhstan, it was noted that the root cause of the issue was the presence of high carbon monoxide content, about 10 times higher than normal in the air. “The oxygen in the air is reduced accordingly, which is the real reason for the sleeping sickness in the village,” said Kazakhstan’s deputy PM, Berdibek Saparbaev.