Close the gates of hell that have been burning for decades. Turkmenistan President Instructs (HuffPost Japan Version) - Yahoo! News

The huge burning hole "Gates of Hell" in Turkmenistan (photographed in 2020)

Close the huge burning pit called the Gates of Hell. It was ordered by Turkmenistan President Berdimukhamedov at a government meeting on January 7. [Kenji Ando, ​​HuffPost Japan] [Video] Turkmenistan's 'Gates of Hell' shot by drone

What is the Gate of Hell? It may have been born in 1971 during excavation work in the former Soviet Union

According to AFP and other sources, the location of the Gates of Hell is Darvaza, about 260 kilometers north of Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. is. It corresponds to the central part of the Karakum Desert. 60 meters wide and 20 meters deep. It is one of Turkmenistan's tourist attractions because it burns 24 hours a day thanks to the constant boiling of natural gas. It's unclear when the hole was created, but it seems certain it's been burning for decades. The theory that it was born in excavation work in the former Soviet era is influential. According to the local English news site Turkmen Portal, the gates of hell were built in 1971. When geologists from the former Soviet Union discovered that natural gas had accumulated underground and drilled, the ground above the underground cavity collapsed. A large hole filled with gas opened up. Geologists set fire to the pits to avoid health hazards to humans and animals from natural gas spills. The fire should have died down over time, but it is still burning. The BBC, however, cites a Turkmenistan geologist as saying that "the giant hole formed in the 1960s and the fire only started to burn in the 1980s".

What the president ordered was…

The Turkmen portal reported President Berdimuhamedov's remarks at the January 7th government meeting. The president said the "gates of hell" were still burning, threatening the local ecosystem and the health of its residents. It also warned that it was consuming natural gas that could be profited for the country's prosperity. So he instructed Deputy Prime Minister Shahim Abdrakhmanov, who is in charge of fuel issues, to ask scientists and foreign experts to find a solution to close the "gates of hell". In 2010, President Berdimuhamedov ordered the local government to find a way to extinguish the flames, according to Reuters. Turkmenistan is known for its abundance of natural gas and has the world's fourth largest reserves.

Kenji Ando, ​​HuffPost Japan