Exclusive - Amazing! This Gaping Hell-Hole has been Burining for More Than 40 Years!

We all know that the desert is one of the hottest places on earth. But can you imagine how hot a desert would be if there was a burning crater in the middle of it?

The "Door to Hell" used to be a natural gas field that collapsed into an underground cavern in 1971. Located in Derweze, Turkmenistan, it has been transformed into a natural gas crater. With a diameter of 69 meters and a depth of 30 meters, the crater has never stopped burning since geologists set it on fire in 1971. The idea was to keep methane gas from spreading. 

Soviet engineers discovered the site in 1971. At first, they thought it was a huge oil field. To determine the amount of available oil in the site, engineers put up a rig and operations. However, since the site was full of gas, the ground below camp and the drilling rig collapsed and became a large crater. 

Fearing that poisonous gases might be released from the massive cavern to the surrounding towns, the quick thinking engineers decided to burn the gas. The engineers estimated the gas to burn off in a span of few weeks but it has continued burning for more than 40 years now. 

The Derweze crater was featured in the "Crater of Fire" episode of Die Trying. An explorer named George Kouronis was the first man to ever set foot at the bottom of the crater, where he found samples of extremophile microorganisms. This episode was shown on the National Geographic Channel in 2014. 

What do you think of this burning hole in the Earth's surface, what would you throw into it? Tell us in the comments section below!

Source: TNP, Thevintagenews