The 'Gate to Hell' has been open for 50 years but is finally burning out
Deep in the arid desert of Turkmenistan, a huge crater has been burning with the wrath of a thousand flames, night and day, day and night.
Tourists flock to its precipitous edges, while after dark, spiders are drawn to its brilliant glow, hypnotically crawling to a fiery death.
But this isn't Hell. It's a massive hole accidentally set alight for decades by Soviet engineers. Obviously.
Now, it looks like it is finally burning out, after the government launched a bid to deprive it of the methane it needs to keep burning.
Satellite images show how it is now just smoldering in the desert, a far cry from the sheet of fire once seen for miles which earned its nickname.
AKI news agency, based in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, reported that the burning has reduced by more than three times compared to August 2023.
Irina Luryeva, of the Research Institute of Natural Gas of the Turkmengas Concern said increased gas production nearby made it possible 'to take control of the filtration flow, now the gas supply to the burning crater is gradually decreasing.'
No-one knows how the pit, officially called the Darvaza crater, was first formed before it was set aflame. Perhaps there was simply no one around. Or maybe it's classified.
Some believe engineers were drilling for oil when a rig gave way and punched into a massive underground natural gas cavern, forming the huge crater, 70 metres wide and 30 metres deep.
Whatever its origin, it's fair to say its legendary status hails from one very bad decision.
In the 1980s, as the crater continued leaking poisonous gases, those in the know thought the best solution was to simply burn them off.
Side note: Turkmenistan has the sixth largest gas reserves in the world. Enough to keep aglow for quite some time.
And so, 50 years on, it relentlessly rumbled on, burning methane that would really be better off in the ground.
Former president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov demanded that a plan to finally extinguish the crater should be put in place, as far back as 2010.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
In 2022, he appeared on state television to tell officials to put out the hellish flames, saying the human-made crater 'negatively affects both the environment and the health of the people living nearby'.
He added: 'We are losing valuable natural resources for which we could get significant profits and use them for improving the wellbeing of our people', and instructed officials to 'find a solution to extinguish the fire'.
It took until the following year for the plan to actually take shape – and even now, it hasn't gone out completely.
Turkmenistan is 80% desert
Turkmen melons have their own national holiday
Turkmenistan has the sixth largest oil and natural gas reserves in the world
It is one of the least visited countries in the world, reporting 14,438 tourists in 2019. It just reopened for tourists in 2023
The country had a President for Life, Saparmurat Niyazov, until his death in 2006. He ruled for 21 years.
The country formed a space agency in 2011, and launched a satellite in 2015
Only one man has ever descended into the Gates of Hell, explorer George Kourounis. During his visit met with local geologists 'who have been there for decades', and said the collapse may have happened in the 1960s.
'It's hard for me to back that up, but this is basically straight from the horse's mouth,' said Mr Kourounis.
But anything is possible when there are no records to confirm or deny.
'Day or night, it is clearly burning. You can hear the roar of the fire if you stand at the edge,' said Mr Kourounis.
'The heat, if you are downwind of it, is unbearable. More Trending
'There are thousands of little flames all around the edges and towards the centre. Then there are two large flames in the middle at the bottom, and that is probably where the drilling rig hole was for the natural gas extraction.'
But its mystery origin is now secondary, as there's a bigger problem at hand – climate change. Burning gas 24/7 isn't a great look in 2024.
It is still alight for now.
So as the Gates of Hell continue to burn, tourists will flock to the landlocked Asian country to get a last glimpse of this strange, and disastrous, human error.
MORE: 6,000-year-old mystery skeletons could rewrite human history
MORE: 'Doomsday shipwreck' stuffed with explosives could unleash a Thames tsunami
MORE: How four children survived a plane crash that killed every adult on board
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
3 days ago
- Metro
Moment manhole shoots fire onto street as terrified pedestrians run
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Manholes exploded – with fire – in terrifying incidents that sent pedestrians running in a Brooklyn neighborhood. A video shared on the safety network app Citizen showed cars driving on a street in the Bushwick neighbourhood shortly before 5.30pm on Thursday when a column of flames shot up from a manhole. In the clip, a bright orange plume was seen from a distance and it cut out as the person recording it appeared to duck for cover. The burst happened as a firefighter moved a barrier on Central Avenue between Myrtle Avenue and Stockholm Street. The firefighter was on site because the New York City Fire Department was investigating reports of higher than normal levels of carbon monoxide, WABC reported. No one was injured from the sudden eruption. Con Edison, which supplies energy in New York City, responded to the scene. However, two hours later, another manhole less a mile away spewed fire, at Lewis Avenue and Pulaski Street. A video posted to the Citizen app showed flames coming from inside the manhole and spreading across the street and encroaching on businesses and vehicles. About 60 firefighters and first responders rushed to the scene and extinguished the blaze before it hurt anyone or caused any property damage. More Trending It happened a week after two other manhole fires occurred on Remsen Avenue in Brooklyn's East Flatbush neighbourhood and knocked out power to five buildings and caused a small gas leak that forced evacuations, according to WABC. Con Edison said it was caused by an electrical fire. It happened three months after a series of manhole explosions – without fire – just missed hitting a grandmother and her two grandchildren who were walking on a sidewalk after an Easter egg hunt in Poughkeepsie, which is about 80 miles north of Manhattan. New York City has roughly 350,000 manholes across its five boroughs that cover a network of underground cables and gas lines. The cables are prone to overheating from air conditioner use in the summer and can cause the manhole explosions. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Ghislaine Maxwell quietly moved out of Florida prison while seeking Trump pardon MORE: What is 'flysky', the new lethal drug that could be the new fentanyl MORE: White House reveals £151,000,000 plans for a new ballroom
Scottish Sun
4 days ago
- Scottish Sun
Inside abandoned Soviet-era nuclear missile base where three people died hidden deep underground in forests of Lithuania
The base housed Soviet R-12 Dvina missiles and remained a secret until US spies spotted it in 1978 SECRET BASE Inside abandoned Soviet-era nuclear missile base where three people died hidden deep underground in forests of Lithuania Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) DEEP in the forests of western Lithuania, a chilling relic of the Cold War still lies hidden — a secret underground nuclear missile base where three people lost their lives. The Plokštinė Missile Base, buried in Žemaitija National Park about 30 miles from the Baltic Sea, once housed Soviet R-12 Dvina missiles pointed at Western Europe. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 8 Soviet-era nuclear missile base in Lithuania where three people died is now a Cold War Museum Credit: Wikimedia Commons 8 Hidden deep underground in forests, it housed missiles pointed at Western Europe Credit: Wikimedia Commons 8 Three people lost their lives at the nuclear missile base Credit: Wikimedia Commons Today, it's the park's top tourist draw, transformed into the Cold War Museum and attracting 35,000 visitors in 2024 alone. But behind the eerie exhibits of Lenin statues, Soviet flags and dimly lit tunnels lies a deadly history. Museum guide Aušra Brazdeikytė, who grew up nearby, told CNN: "A soldier fell to his death when his [safety] belt broke during a routine service check. "Two other soldiers died during a nitric acid spill while trying to refuel the missile." Completed in 1962 after two years of construction involving more than 10,000 workers, the base was one of the USSR's most secretive sites. Surrounded by barbed wire and a two‑mile electric fence, it remained hidden until US satellites finally spotted it in 1978 — by which time it had already been decommissioned under disarmament agreements. The entrance, still marked by a Russian sign reading 'Please, wipe your feet,' leads down to a labyrinth of rooms and four silos plunging 100 feet underground. Visitors can now peer into the abyss of one of the shafts, which never launched a missile but claimed lives during service. The site once housed around 300 soldiers in a ghost town nearby — bizarrely converted into a children's summer camp called Žuvėdra ('seagull') after the base shut down. Its bus stop still bears a mural of a gnome on a mushroom holding a flower. Inside abandoned Antarctic clifftop 'ghost station' where Soviet boffins battled -90C gales 1000s of miles from anywhere After Lithuania broke free from Soviet rule in 1990, the base was abandoned and stripped for scrap. It reopened as a museum in 2012 with EU funding, giving the public rare access to a facility once designed for nuclear war. Today, the stark remains of the Plokštinė base — its mud‑covered hangars resembling ancient pyramids — stand in sharp contrast to the idyllic lakes and forests around it. The region, once a militarized zone bristling with rockets, is now a gem of slow travel in Lithuania. The museum's exhibits walk visitors through propaganda, weapons technology and daily life under Soviet control. Lifelike mannequins dressed as grim soldiers add to the unsettling atmosphere, making the underground tour feel like stepping back into the Iron Curtain era. For locals like Brazdeikytė, memories of the base run deep. She recalls soldiers becoming part of everyday life, often working on nearby collective farms but never daring to talk about what lay beneath the forest floor. 8 Base, once surrounded by barbed wire, opened as museum in 2012 with EU funding Credit: Wikimedia Commons 8 Visitors can now peer into the abyss of one of the shafts, which never launched a missile but claimed lives during service Credit: Wikimedia Commons 8 The base housed Soviet R-12 Dvina missiles and was hidden until US spies spotted it in 1978 Credit: Wikimedia Commons 'We worked alongside soldiers from different Soviet republics at collective farms, but never discussed military topics,' she told CNN. The base's location in Plokštinė forest was chosen carefully by Soviet planners: the sandy soil was easy to excavate, nearby Plateliai Lake provided water for cooling systems, and the sparse local population meant fewer eyes watching. Visitors today can combine the chilling underground tour with the natural beauty above ground. Žemaitija National Park offers cycling and hiking trails, and Lake Plateliai is a favorite spot for campers and nature lovers. The nearby town of Plateliai is home to an 18th‑century wooden church and even a Mardi Gras museum with its famous carved masks. But deep beneath the birch trees and Baltic pines, the echoes of the Cold War — and the lives lost in its shadow — linger in the silence. 8 The facility was abandoned after Lithuania freed from Soviet rule Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Metro
6 days ago
- Metro
My family are starving – so I made a desperate offer via Facebook
'We no longer have the energy to endure the hardships of life and the agony of famine,' I wrote on Facebook, 'and I will not wait for my children to die before my eyes due to hunger.' This is how I announced I was offering to trade my camera – my livelihood as a journalist in Gaza – for a sack of flour. It felt like my soul was being torn from my body. My heart was breaking, but I could not bear to watch my seven children – all under the age of 19 – starve, so I felt like I had no other option. I became a journalist in 2010 and I started out covering public meetings, seminars, sports matches, and community events. I was drawn to stories about people; their struggles, their achievements, their quiet resilience. In those early days, I didn't have a camera, but it was my dream to own one. So I saved up for a whole year, sacrificing so much. But finally, I did. It cost 2,700 shekels (around £600) but it was defective and had a broken lens. In time, I replaced it with a Canon D80, which I've had to this day. That camera became my companion, my third eye that saw Gaza and showed it to the world. I documented weddings and funerals, political events, and moments of everyday life. After having my own Facebook page since 2011, I launched another one in 2017 that shares images and videos showing our neighbourhood and traditions. Through the camera lens, I tried to promote peace, awareness, and the values I believe hold our community together. The latter Facebook page has since grown to 67,000 followers. But over the past 20 months, as I documented the latest war on Gaza, my camera captured something else entirely: devastation. I filmed entire neighbourhoods reduced to rubble, the suffering of children, and the anguish of displaced families. Recently, the page has served as a platform, not only for people to search for things lost in bombings or displacement, but also to look for missing children and loved ones. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video On one occasion, an autistic child was found wandering around. A group of us cared for him and published a picture on the Facebook page that I hoped would reach his family, since I didn't know who they were. Later that day, the family saw the post and was able to come and they were safely reunited. Lost children are often returned to their families thanks to the page and it brings me happiness in these dark times. Devastatingly, my home was bombed and destroyed in January this year during a strike that killed six children – my nieces and nephews – and injured both my two-year-old son Rayan and me. To make matters worse, I lost all my journalism equipment, except my one camera – my only source of income. Despite two injuries, one to my head and the other to my leg, I kept working. I continued to report, often without protective gear or basic equipment. Many international journalists left Gaza and new ones weren't allowed in. We worked facing the bombing, the hunger, and the despair, with only our cameras and our courage. Then one morning two weeks ago, I woke to the sound of my youngest, Rayan, crying from hunger. His mother had no bread to give him. That moment shattered me. My daughter, Rama, who suffers from a chronic illness called hypocalcemia (a lack of calcium in her blood), was also getting weaker from malnutrition. I felt helpless. So I asked myself: what good is a camera when I can't feed my own child? What's the use of documenting hunger if I too am starving? So I made the offer via Facebook to trade it for a bag of flour. I was desperate. Then something remarkable happened. As people saw my post – strangers, friends, and colleagues – they rejected my offer and instead wrote with messages of support. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Other journalists shared my post and they told others to refuse, with some saying: 'The tool that was meant to convey the truth has been reduced to nothing more than a sack of flour' and 'You deserve a life of ease and comfort for the remarkable work you have done to uplift the community'. They reminded me I was not alone. And so until now, the trade has not happened. Not because I changed my mind, but because others couldn't bear to see me give up my voice as someone who shows the world what we in Gaza are living through. And so I remain, still hungry, still struggling to care for my children, but still holding my camera. I've had to borrow money from friends for flour to feed my children, but the money is running out and there is almost nothing left. As I write this, famine continues to spread in Gaza. Markets are empty. Our bodies are weak. And even if Israel allows a trickle of aid in, we are desperate. None of us, not me, my children, or our neighbours, have eaten bread in days. We stagger through our workdays, documenting the pain of others, only to return home to the same hunger. I don't know what the future holds for me and my family. Every day, we wake not knowing whether we will survive. More Trending But I do know this: I am a journalist. I will continue to tell the truth, even if I must do it with a pen instead of a lens. I am not the only journalist starving in Gaza. I've been injured and lost family, my home, and equipment. I've nearly lost hope. But I have not lost my sense of duty. We are being suffocated by siege, starvation, displacement, bombing, and exile. These are the weapons used against civilians in Gaza. And while the world watches, we are running out of time. There are around 2 million people in Gaza – and we're starving. Please, help us before it is too late. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Get in touch by emailing Share your views in the comments below. MORE: Buying gluten free costs me hundreds of pounds – it's not my fault MORE: I have one demand for the Bend It Like Beckham sequel MORE: Trump says Gaza children 'look very hungry' after Israel denies any starvation
