Vessels and Vodka
MOSCOW (AP) -- On the bottom of the world's deepest lake lies a hidden treasure: a truck loaded with cases of vodka, one of some 150 vehicles and vessels that have been found on the bed of a strait in Lake Baikal during an environmental inspection mission, Interfax said.
Scientists and emergency workers combing the lake's bottom have found dozens of cars, trucks, boats and barges since the monthlong expedition began July 2, Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov said.
Beltsov could not confirm the report of a small truck filled with vodka bottles, which Interfax said had been the target of several less official diving expeditions by residents near the Olkhonskiye Vorota strait on the lake's western edge.
Interfax said some of the objects found during the expedition have been lying at a depth of 30 to 40 meters for as long as 30 years and that most of the vehicles belonged to local residents who tried to cross the lake when it was frozen
