Turkmenistan plans to close its 'Gateway to Hell'

The Soviets feared poisonous gases would be released and set it alight, thinking it would burn out quickly.

The leader of the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan has ordered experts to find a way to extinguish a fire in a giant natural gas crater that has been burning for five decades.

President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov told officials to put out the flames at the Darvaza gas crater because of environmental and economic concerns.

In 2010, Berdymukhamedov ordered experts to find a way to put out the flames that have been burning since the Soviet drilling operation went awry.

President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said that the man-made crater negatively affects both the environment and the health of the people living nearby.

He said that we could use the natural resources we are losing to improve the well-being of our people.

Berdymukhamedov told officials to find a solution to extinguish the fire.

The Soviet drilling accident in 1971 caused the drilling rig to fall in and the earth to collapse underneath it, creating the crater.

The Soviets decided to burn off the gas to stop it from spreading.

The pit has been on fire for a long time and previous attempts to put it out have been unsuccessful.

The crater is a popular tourist attraction in the ex-Soviet country.

The president renamed it the "Shining of Karakum".

2022.

The Gateway to Hell will be closing on January 8, 2022.

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