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Siberian divers plan to build underwater chapel at Lake Baikal bottom

The chapel will be built of sunken logs at a depth of 10-12 meters to let amateur divers enjoy the ringing of underwater bells

Lake Baikal ITAR-TASS/Yevgeny Yepachintsev/Archive

Lake Baikal

© ITAR-TASS/Yevgeny Yepachintsev/Archive

IRKUTSK, December 1. /TASS/. Divers from the east Siberian city of Irkutsk are planning to build a belfry on the bottom of Lake Baikal, the world's deepest and largest freshwater lake, the head of a local underwater research group said on Monday.

"We want to attract attention to Baikal's environmental problems and remind tourists that this site was sacred," Igor Khanayev told TASS.

He said that a group of divers had already submereged with church and ship bells to Baikal's bottom for a sound check.

According to Khanayev, the sound was very pure and was heard at a distance of more than 40 metres.

The chapel will be built of sunken logs at a depth of 10-12 meters to let amateur divers enjoy the ringing of underwater bells, he added.

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