The huge gas crater in the desert of Turkmenistan, which has been burning for 50 years, is known as the "Gate of Hell" and is now a world-famous attraction. However, because of its negative impact, the country's leaders ordered experts to do whatever it took to extinguish it.
On January 8, local time, Turkmenistan President Gurbangully Berdymukhamedov delivered a televised speech telling officials and experts that the fires of the "Gates of Hell" must be extinguished because of the growing environmental and economic problems it poses.
Berdymukhamedov said the pothole had a negative impact on both the environment and the health of nearby residents. In a televised address, he also said: "We are losing precious natural resources that could have been profitable and used to improve the well-being of our people." ”
Turkmenistan (Turkmenistan) is located in Central Asia and is often threatened by earthquakes due to its location in the Mediterranean seismic belt. The country is one of the driest regions in the world, but it is rich in oil and gas resources, and its natural gas reserves rank fifth in the world. Located in Davaza in the middle of the Karakum Desert, the Gate of Hell is a gas crater formed during a Soviet-era drilling accident.
In 1971, Soviet geologists went to the Karakum Desert in search of natural resources, and when drilling for oil, they found that there were natural gas fields here, but the drilling collapsed the ground, causing the rig to collapse, and finally forming a huge crater 70 meters wide and 20 meters deep. To prevent methane from leaking and poisoning nearby neighborhoods, scientists decided to ignite the gases in the pit, where the fire is expected to go out within a few weeks.
However, this burning is 50 years, causing a loss of up to $50 billion, and it is still burning. The landscape created here has sparked a lot of conspiracy theories, and thousands of adventurers come to visit it every year.
In 2013, the famous Canadian adventurer George Kourounis braved the heat of more than 1000 ° C to sink into this large pit full of flames, becoming the first person to enter the "Gates of Hell" world, and released photos to show the world its true face.