Giant Fire Pit in Desert Known as “Gates of Hell” Has Been Burning for Over 50 Years
So what is this crater filled with fire and how did it end up in the desert? For those answers, we need to look back to Turkmenistan’s history. In fact, scientists still don’t understand how much natural gas is fueling the fire. Photo:Stock Photosfrom Matyas Rehak/Shutterstock And in 2013 he declared the part of the desert containing the crater a natural reserve. So authorities decided to burn off the gas, thinking it would last a few weeks....