President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has ordered experts to find a way to extinguish a massive five-decade fire at a huge crater in the Central Asian nation, dubbed the “Gateway to Hell”.
“Hell’s Gate” has become one of the world famous landmarks of the Central Asian country. However, tourism has not really boomed in Turkmenistan, where less than 10,000 foreign visitors visit each year.
The “Gateway to Hell” appeared in the early 1970s, it is a sinkhole more than 60 meters wide, formed during Soviet gas exploration and drilling. However, when it was first formed, scientists thought that the gas amount of the crater was too small to be exploited, so they burned it because they were concerned that the toxic gas might threaten humans and wildlife. wild in the area. However, it seems that scientists miscalculated, and this manhole continues to burn to this day.
This is not the first time Turkmenistan has tried to close “Hell’s Gate”. President Berdymukhamedov in 2010 once asked scientists to study the solution, but to no avail.
According to the state newspaper Neytralny Turkmenistan, although the “Gate of Hell” has become a tourist attraction, President Berdymukhamedov still asked his cabinet to find a way to extinguish the “Gate of Hell”, which always burning in the Karakum desert for the past 50 years.
There are several reasons given for putting out the famous fire: negative effects on the health of people living nearby; waste valuable natural gas resources; and destroy the environment.
According to the newspaper, the deputy prime minister of Turkmenistan has been instructed to gather scientists and, if necessary, to seek foreign consultants and find solutions to extinguish the fires.
Currently, the deadline for closing the Darvaza crater tourist site as well as the extinguishing of the “Gate of Hell” fire has not been determined.
The Darvaza Gas Field or Door to Hell is a natural gas field located in Derweze, Ahal Province, Turkmenistan. While drilling in 1971, Soviet geologists drilled into an air pocket.[1] The ground beneath the rig collapsed to form a large hole 70 meters (230 ft) in diameter at 40°15′10″N 58°26′22″E. In order to avoid the gas leak causing poisoning, it was decided that the best way was to burn it.[2] Geologists hope that using fire will burn off all the gas within a few weeks, but the fire is far from over. The people here call this hole “The Door to Hell”.
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