The “Gate of Hell” has been open since 1971 and they cannot close it

In January 2022, the President of Turkmenistan, Gurbanguli Berdimujamedovhad ordered the gas crater known as to be closed “Hell’s Gate”which has burned continuously since 1971. However, more than two years after the official announcement, little progress has been made in this regard.

On that occasion Berdimujamedov complained about the large number of natural gas wasted for half a century, considered at the same time a loss for the economy of the so-called Gas Republic and a problem for the ecology of Karakum Desertaccording to the newspaper “Neutral Turkmenistan”.

For this reason he instructed Deputy Prime Minister Shajim Abdrajmánov to Find a way to put out the flames with the help of Turkmen and, if necessary, foreign scientists.

Two years after the press conference of the pompous announcement, Smithsonian magazine reported that it is unclear whether there is a viable solution to extinguish the flames. Even those who have descended into the depths of the crater assure that “seemingly logical” solutions are useless, she said. National Geographic.

According to the prestigious magazine, the explorer George Kourounis shares this point of view. It was there the first person to descend to the bottom of the wellin November 2013. While trying to collect soil samples, he discovered that natural gas is always looking for ways to reach the surface.

“Even if it were necessary to extinguish and cover the fire, there is the possibility that the gas will continue to rise to the surface and, if so, just a spark would be enough to turn it back on,” the specialist said.

President Berdimujamedov, in power since 2006, had already proposed closing the issue in 2010, but the tongues of fire that attracted few tourists entering the country they continue to burn.

Russian scientists believed that the extinction of the well, for example due to an explosion, it would require a large financial investment, but it would not prevent the gas from escaping. To make matters worse, the war between Russia and Ukraine has the entire region in suspense, with hundreds of construction operations halted due to the war.

The crater, which It is located in the center of Karakum and about 260 kilometers from the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat, it is 60 meters wide and almost 20 meters deep.

Although it is considered a wonder of nature, it was created by man in 1971 when Soviet geologists drilled the area for gas.

The problem was that the sandy soil chosen for prospecting had collapsed. In order not to poison the local population and their livestock, geologists They chose to burn the gas coming out of the crater hoping that sooner or later it would die out.

On the other hand, more than half a century later, the gas well continues to burn day and night.