The residents will now be evacuated and given new homes

The Soviet-era mine was pumping out high levels of carbon monoxide gas

They were being poisoned by disused uranium mine the town was built on

The mystery of the 'Village of the Damned' where a sleeping sickness causes people to fall unconscious for days, mild-mannered pensioners swear and men have unusually-high sex drives has been solved.

For three years people in the Kazakhstan village Kalachi – nicknamed 'Sleepy Hollow' – have been puzzled as they fall asleep for two days at a time.

Bizarre hallucinations, especially children, led one girl to see an elephant trunk on her mother and a boy imagine horses and light bulbs flying around his head.

Men there wake up after between 12 hours and six days' sleep craving sex, walking around with erections – and causing nurses to 'blush'. This constant state of arousal can last for up to a month.

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Poisonous: For three years, carbon monoxide gas has been seeping out of an abandoned uranium mine in Kazakhstan and poisoning the villagers of Kalachi

Victims: Photographer Vera Salnitskaya spent a night in the village earlier this year and was told of the bizarre symptoms that the residents suffered over the last few years

Mystery: Some have suffered severe headaches and memory loss as a result of the gas leak from the mines (pictured) - which has affected 160 villagers since 2012

Polluted: When carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon levels rose in the disused mine in the mining town of Krasnogorsk, oxygen levels fell in the village of Kalachi

'The doctors laugh, and the nurses are embarrassed when they see our men in this state,' said one woman whose husband was a 'victim' of the condition.

But, although known side effects include headaches and memory loss, the long-running mystery, which has affected 160 villagers since 2012, finally looks to have been solved.

The culprit is an old disused Soviet-era uranium mine the village is built on, which is pumping out high levels of carbon monoxide, poisoning the villagers.

Hailing the breakthrough, Kazakh vice president Berdybek Saparbayev told MailOnline: 'The cause of the bizarre sleeping illness has been determined.

'After numerous medical tests, our researchers have confirmed that carbon monoxide is to blame for sleeping epidemic in Kalachi village.'

When carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon levels rose in the disused mine, oxygen levels fell in the village, he added.

Sick: Side effects of the gas, which caused people to fall unconscious for days (pictured), included headaches and memory loss

Ghost town: Now the mystery has finally been solved, residents of Kalachi (pictured) and neighbouring Krasnogorsk are being evacuated

Abandoned: 68 of the 223 families in Kalachi (pictured) have already been moved and the plan is to relocate the rest of them by the end of the year

Bizarre: Women have told how their boyfriends and husbands come round from the deep slumber - which lasts beween 12 hours and six days - craving sex

Tests – independently verified by experts in Prague and Moscow – showed levels of carbon monoxide in the air to be ten times normal levels.

Russian scientist Leonid Rikhvanov blamed it on the uranium mine too, although he said it was caused by gases created when the disused mine filled up with water.

'My model is the only one which explains what is going on there,' he said.

Radon and other inert gases which release as a result of the decay of uranium are squeezed out by groundwater and through the cracks in the ground rises to the surface Russian scientist Leonid Rikhvanov

'To describe it simply, when the uranium mines were abandoned, they began to fill with ground water.

'Radon and other inert gases which release as a result of the decay of uranium are squeezed out by groundwater and through the cracks in the ground rises to the surface.

'It can accumulate in the cellars.'

Now the cause is known, Kalachi – 250 miles from the border with Russia - and neighbouring 'ghost city' Krasnogorsk, both affected, are being evacuated.

The state is currently running an evacuation plan, under which people should be given a place to live in a new location. The government pays 250,000 tenge (£890) to help meet the costs.

Some 68 of the 223 families there have already been moved – with the rest being relocated by the end of the year.

The poisoning sparked deep concern at the village when no one knew what was causing the strange behaviour – turning zombie-like people living there into the 'walking dead'.

Harmful: One of the debilitating symptoms of the mystery poisoning in Kalachi (pictured) was an inability to control the bladder

Empty: One man suffering from side effects of the gas of the ghost town that is Kalachi (pictured) suddenly leapt out of bed, giving a Nazi salute to his doctors, greeting them with 'Heil Hitler'

A photojournalist who spent the night in Kalachi told how children had seen their mothers grow eyes on their foreheads. One boy saw horses and light bulbs flying around his head

A photojournalist who spent the night there told how children had seen their mothers grow eyes on their foreheads.

She also said usually mild-mannered pensioners denounced their nurses as 'whores' and 'prostitutes'.

Meanwhile, women told that when their husbands and boyfriends come round from the deep slumber, lasting from 12 hours to six days, they often awoke craving sex.

As soon as men wake up, they need sex right there and then, and this feeling lasts for at least a month Female resident of Kalachi

'One woman said: 'As soon as men wake up, they need sex right there and then, and this feeling lasts for at least a month.'

One man just out of hospital 'still couldn't eat properly let alone walk, but he was all over his wife,' she revealed. 'He really needed it.'

Unsurprisingly, the men were reluctant to talk about this aspect of the sleeping illness.

But another woman, in her 40s, who had taken her son to live in a neighbouring village to protect him from the unexplained disease, said: 'My husband after he woke up called me and said: "Listen either you visit me right now, or I'll go to you".'

There are other debilitating symptoms, including an inability to control the bladder.

'One poor man wet himself as he went to hospital. So the paramedics removed his pants and there he was, not properly conscious but in a state of sexual excitement,' a resident said.

'The view of the men lying in the hospital ward rooms is called "tents".'

Some rant uncontrollably. Locals cite the example of one man, known for his impeccable manners, who cursed nurses as 'whores' and 'prostitutes' when he was suddenly struck down by the Kalachi drowsiness.

Another man, apparently recovering, suddenly leapt out of bed, giving a Nazi salute to his doctors, greeting them with 'Heil Hitler', while a 60-year-old grandfather imagined he was a rooster, flapping his arms around and crowing.

Conspiracy theorists believed they were being deliberately poisoned by property developers who wanted them out because there was a valuable gold mine.

Plot: Conspiracy theorists believed they were being deliberately poisoned by property developers who wanted them out of Kalachi (pictured)

Paranormal activity: One man, who conducted his own basic scientific experiments, is convinced the phenomenon is due extra-terrestrial activity

One, who conducted his own basic scientific experiments, is convinced the phenomenon is due extra-terrestrial activity.

He said: 'It looks like some kind of beam went through the village. I do not know what it can be.

'Maybe some special equipment, like emitter. I just see that the location of the homes, where people fell asleep are in straight lines, as if some beam cut through them.'