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Ms Tatarnikov's home begins to tip into the sink hole which has emerged next to her home
* Anastasia Tatarnikov, 28, thought she was running from an earthquake

* Massive sinkhole appeared as a result of mining work in the city of Ridder

* 120 homes listed as being at risk and 480 people have been evacuated


A young mother grabbed her newborn baby and fled after her home just seconds before it vanished into a massive hole.

Anastasia Tatarnikov, 28, thought she was running from an earthquake, but according to emergency officials the massive sinkhole had appeared as a result of mining work in the city of Ridder in eastern Kazakhstan.

In total 120 homes have been listed as being at risk and 480 people have been evacuated.

Several homes including Ms Tatarnikova's have completely vanished into the hole.

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Anastasia Tatarnikov with her son Kiril. The pair are now homeless
'I was watching TV and then it started flickering and the lights started swinging. I opened the front door and saw a massive pit appearing in the ground,' she said.

'I ran back into the house and grabbed my son Kiril out of his cot and ran out through the back door. Seconds later the entire house disappeared into the hole.

'I still can't believe that I have lost everything. I don't have any of the official paperwork from my passport through to my son's hospital documents, with his toys and all our clothes. Everything is gone.'

She said local officials had promised to help with rehousing and covering the loss of everything, but so far nothing had happened.

She said: 'I am really in shock about the whole thing.'

So far managers of the Kazzinca mining company that runs the nearby LLP Altyn Tau East mine have declined to comment on the disaster.

The pit at the moment appears to have stabilised having grown to a width of 70 metres and with a depth of 30 metres.