In the middle of the Karakoum desert in Turkmenistan, close to a village called Darvaza (with no inhabitants) there is a crater of about 100 meters in diameter and more than 20 meters deep, known as the Darvaza Well… also called as The Hell’s Door!
Inside this well, fire has been burning for decades of years and seems never to die out! This is not a work of nature, but a result of Soviet mining prospection that started in the 50’s. In 1971, a drilling provoked the collapse of an underground cavity that revealed a hole or a gap and let out enormous quantities of poisonous gases.
The Soviets underestimated the dimensions of the cavity lit it on fire to burn the gases out! The fire which was expected to fade off within weeks has been burning uninterrupted since 1971!
Until now, no one knows when the fire will die off. Even though the Darvaza Well is in a far off place inaccessible to many, people still come there to witness this man-made-natural wonder! Sources say that you can stand a little away from the crater only for a few minutes because of the unbearable heat!
Photos taken from: MyOpera and VirtualTourist
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