By Tim Binnall
The president of Turkmenistan hopes to extinguish a massive fiery crater, dubbed the 'Gates of Hell,' which has been burning for decades and has become one of the country's most popular tourist attractions. Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov reportedly issued the decree this past Saturday, explaining that the inferno's output "negatively affects both the environment and the health of the people living nearby." He also argued that "we are losing valuable natural resources for which we could get significant profits and use them for improving the well being of our people." As such, Berdymukhamedov told officials in the country to figure out a way to finally snuff out the fire.
The origins of the monstrous chasm and its iconic inferno are murky at best with legend stating that it was accidentally created in the 1970s by Russian miners hoping to extract natural gas from the area. That version of events is now doubted by researchers, who believe that the crater probably formed sometime in the 1960s. Although it has been burning continuously for several decades, how and when the fire started remains a mystery. Be that as it may, it has become a genuine landmark which draws visitors from all over the world to Turkmenistan.
Before one sheds a tear for the tourist attraction, the fate of the 'Gates of Hell' is far from certain as this is actually the second time that Berdymukhamedov has called for the fire to be extinguished. Back in 2010, he issued a similar order to experts in the country, but the effort clearly failed as the inferno continues to burn to this day. With that in mind, there is a strong possibility that the authoritarian leader's wishes will once again be thwarted by the mysterious fiery chasm.