It looks like tourists will soon no longer be able to look at ‘the gate to hell’, or a fire crater in the Turkmen Karakum desert. President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov has ordered the oil and gas extraction minister to investigate whether the crater, which is 70 meters wide and 20 meters deep, can be extinguished. He made this known through the Turkmen state media.
The story goes that the fire crater was created in the 1970s, when the Soviet Union is said to have drilled the area in search of gas. Part of the bottom collapsed. The hole was allegedly set on fire to prevent the release of toxic gases from the sinkhole. The fire has not been extinguished for at least decades.
The fire crater, which the president dubbed “The Shining of Karakum” but also known as the Darvaza Crater, quickly became a popular tourist attraction. They have to drive more than 260 kilometers through the desert from the capital Ashgabat to view the fire crater.
Environmental reasons
But if it is up to President Berdimuchamedov, the fire will be extinguished. He argues that the flame pollutes the environment, and that it is a shame to waste the gas that is released.
The president has ordered local authorities to investigate how the fire can be extinguished. It remains to be seen whether that will actually happen. In 2010, Berdimuchamedov also announced that he would like to have the fire extinguished, because the crater would hinder industrial development in the area. But the hole is still on fire 12 years later.
View images of the Turkmen fire crater below:
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