Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – “Hell’s Gate” appears in Turkmenistan. Even Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow ordered officials to extinguish it.
The Gate of Hell in question is the fire in the Darvaza gas crater located in the middle of the Karakum desert. The crater is located about 270 km from the capital of Turkmenistan, Ashgabat and has the official name ‘The Radiance of Karakum’.
However, because of the constant spewing of eternal flames, the locals usually refer to it as ‘The Door to Hell’ aka the Gate of Hell. Fire is rumored to have appeared for the last 50 years or decades.
Attempts at closing the Gates of Hell are actually not new either. Berdimuhamedow had ordered experts to find a way to extinguish the fire in 2010.
This is not without reason. The fire must be extinguished as it has a negative impact on both the environment and the health of the people living nearby.
“We are losing a valuable natural resource from which we could benefit significantly and use it to improve the welfare of our people,” he said in televised remarks, quoted Monday (10/1/2022).
While there is no record of how the burning pit was originally discovered, the most popular theory suggests that the Gates of Hell appeared in 1971. Turkmenistan was still under Soviet control at that time.
According to the theory, geologists hit a pocket of natural gas while drilling for oil. Believed to prevent the spread of methane, they burned it and it has been burning ever since.
While Turkmen geologists believe the crater was formed in the 1960s and only flared up in the 1980s. This has not been resolved because, as when Turkmenistan was under Soviet control, every record of cratering is now classified information.
The mystery surrounding the fire pit has also turned it into a popular tourist attraction in the country. It is recorded that thousands of people visit the area every year to see the hellhole up close.
(tfa)
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