- A fire ignited inside Turkmenistan's Darvaza gas crater in 1971 and is still burning today.
- Known as the "Door to Hell", the fiery pit has become one of Turkmenistan's top tourist attractions.
- Efforts to extinguish the crater have failed, with natural gas continuing to fuel the flames.
In the middle of Turkmenistan's Karakum Desert, there is a sight that feels more like a science-fiction film than the real world. A giant pit glows with intense orange flames day and night, and it lights up the barren landscape and drawing curious travellers from across the globe.
It is known as the "Door to Hell", and the crater has become one of the country's most unusual landmarks. What makes it even more outstanding is that the fire was never meant to last. More than five decades after it was first lit, it continues to burn nonstop.
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How "Door to Hell's" Fire Started
The Darvaza gas crater, better known as the "Door to Hell" in the Karakum Desert, is located about 260 kilometres north of the capital, Ashgabat. It started as a Soviet gas-drilling project near the village of Darvaza. Engineers were drilling for natural gas when the ground under their rig collapsed, taking the equipment down with it and leaving behind a large crater. Methane gas began leaking out from the opening.
To stop the gas from spreading to nearby villages, the engineers set the crater on fire. They expected it to burn out in a few weeks. It didn't. The fire has kept burning ever since, fed by the natural gas reserves underneath it.
Photo: Unsplash
How Big Is The Turkmenistan's Crater?
The crater is around 70 metres wide and 20 to 30 metres deep. At night, the glow can reportedly be seen from kilometres away. It sits above the Amu Darya Basin, one of the largest natural gas fields in the world, which is why it hasn't run out of fuel after all these decades.
So, what started as an accident has since become a tourist draw, with people travelling to the middle of the desert just to see the pit burn. In 2013, explorer George Kourounis became the first person to climb down into the crater, spending several minutes inside to collect soil samples and study the site.
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There Have Been Attempts To Put Out The Fire
Turkmenistan's government has talked about putting the fire out more than once. In 2010 and again in 2022, the country's leadership asked officials to find a way to extinguish it, pointing to environmental damage and the natural gas being wasted. Neither attempt worked. The "Door to Hell" is still burning today, more than 50 years after it was first lit.
