Published 9 January 2022 at 20.47
Abroad. The large natural gas crater that has become known as the “Gateway to Hell” has been burning for over 50 years. But now Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow has ordered the fire to be extinguished, reports RT.
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The famous burning gas crater in the Karakum Desert is said to have been burning for over 50 years and is called the Darvaza Crater.
In folklore, however, the constantly burning hole has been nicknamed “The Gate to Hell”.
The 60-meter-wide gas crater is man-made and the result of a ground collapse in 1971, when geological explorers tried to drill and extract natural gas at the site.
so that it could pose a health hazard to wildlife and the people who lived in the area.
It was assumed that the gas would only burn for a short period before it would extinguish itself – but instead it has burned uninterrupted for over 50 years.
“Hell's sport” has become one of the closed Central Asian country's most famous tourist attractions. In recent years, however, tourism in Turkmenistan has not directly boomed – only about 10,000 visitors a year now.
Now the authorities in Turkmenistan will try to find out if it is possible to extinguish the burning gas crater and, if possible, close it it, probably by shoveling large amounts of sand into the huge hole.