ASHGABAT, (AP) — Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has called put an end to one of the country’s most famous but terrible sights: the burning natural gas crater known as the “Gates of Hell.”
The desert crater, some 260 kilometres (160 miles) north of Ashgabat, has been burning for decades and is a famous tourist attraction for the few travellers who visit Turkmenistan, which is difficult to enter.
The crater, which is around 60 metres (190 feet) in diameter and 20 metres (70 feet) deep, was caused by a gas-drilling collapse in 1971, according to Turkmenportal. Geologists lit a fire to stop the gas from spreading, expecting the gas to burn off in a few weeks.
The stunning, though unwanted, fire that has raged ever since has become so well-known that President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov was seen zooming past it in an off-road tractor on official television in 2019.
According to state daily Neitralny Turkmenistan, Berdymukhamedov has ordered his government to look for measures to put out the fire because it is causing ecological harm and affecting the health of the people living in the area.
