The crater fire named "Gates of Hell" is seen near Darvaza, Turkmenistan, Saturday, July 11, 2020. The president of Turkmenistan is calling for an end to one of the country's most notable but infernal sights — the blazing desert natural gas crater widely referred to as the “Gates of Hell.” The crater, about 260 kilometers (160 miles) north of the capital Ashgabat, has been on fire for decades and is a popular sight for the small number of tourists who come to Turkmenistan, which is difficult to enter. (AP Photo/Alexander Vershinin)
The president of Turkmenistan is calling for an end to one of the country’s most notable but infernal sights — the blazing natural gas crater widely referred to as the “Gates of Hell.”
The desert crater located about 260 kilometers (160 miles) north of the capital, Ashgabat, has burned for decades and is a popular sight for the small number of tourists who come to Turkmenistan, a country which is difficult to enter.
The Turkmen news site Turkmenportal said a 1971 gas-drilling collapse formed the crater, which is about 60 meters (190 feet) in diameter and 20 meters (70 feet) deep. To prevent the spread of gas, geologists set a fire, expecting the gas to burn off in a few weeks.
The spectacular if unwelcome fire that has burned ever since is so renowned that state TV showed President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov speeding around it in an off-road truck in 2019.
But Berdymukhamedov has ordered his government to look for ways to put the fire out because it is causing ecological damage and affecting the health of people living in the area, state newspaper Neitralny Turkmenistan reported Saturday.
A tarantula crossing the road in Death Valley National Park caused a traffic crash that sent a Canadian motorcyclist to the hospital, the National Park Service said.
More than four decades since Lennon's murder and two since George Harrison's death, the very last Beatles song has been released as a double A-side single with “Love Me Do,” the band's 1962 debut single.
The murder trial of a woman accused of gunning down rising pro cyclist Anna Moriah Wilson and fleeing the country began Wednesday with Texas prosecutors telling jurors they would hear Wilson's final screams and the shots that killed her.
