22 June 2007: Has anybody seen our lake?

Chile's National Forestry Corporation is used to losing things. Tools get left behind; employees don't turn up when expected; the usual stuff. But now they have lost an entire lake.

The lake was situated in Patagonia and had a surface area of about 12 acres - roughly the size of 10 soccer pitches.

"In March we patrolled the area and everything was normal ... we went again in May and to our surprise we found the lake had completely disappeared," said a CONAF official.

CONAF is investigating the disappearance.

One theory is that the area was hit by an earth tremor that opened a crack in the ground which acted like a drain.