6:52am UK, Sunday July 19, 2009
Three people are feared dead after two homes were swallowed up by a giant open cast mine.
Picture shows the devastation at the scene of the landslide in Germany
The houses in Germany plummetted hundreds of feet into the mine after heavy rain caused a landslide.
Amazing pictures show remains of the homes at the bottom of the mine, part of which had been converted into a lake.
The alarm was raised early on Saturday at Nachterstedt, a town in central Germany, police said.
One house was completely swept away in the landslide while the other was torn in half.
Torn apart: Second home
The remaining part of the house was left perched on the edge of a precipice.
Both homes stood close to the edge of the former open-cast coal mine.
The three missing residents are a couple and a man, all believed to be in their 50s.
Around seven other homes, now just a few feet from the drop, had a narrow escape.
The area into which the homes fell contained no water.
The stretch of land which collapsed into the lake was around 350m long and 120m wide.
