Turkmenistan Says 'Gateway To Hell' Fire, Raging For Over 50 Years, Tamed

An enormous fire has been raging in Turkmenistan for more than 50 years and nobody has been able to tame it - yet. Known as the 'Gateway to Hell', the Darvaza Gas Crater is a massive gas well that got ignited back in 1971, when Soviet scientists tried to experiment with it.

Back then, Turkmenistan was part of Soviet Union, and scientists were looking for a solution to the region's excessive methane problem. They traveled deep inside the Karakum desert and dug a gigantic hole to study the methane leaks emanating in the area. They accidentally drilled right into an underground gas field.

Assuming that the fastest way to eradicate the methane leak problem was to burn it off, the scientists decided to ignite it. What followed next has become longest-ever continuously burning man-made fire in history. Though it fueled Turkmenistan's economy by becoming a tourist attraction, the 'Gateway to Hell' has caused severe environmental damage.

Far from solving the methane problem, the blaze has been spewing out massive quantities of methane, a gas that contributes greatly to climate change.

The current government in Turkmenistan took a pledge to do whatever it can to stop the huge blaze. This week, in a sudden announcement, they said that they have managed to significantly reduced the giant gas field fire "that has been raging for more than half a century".

Officials said that the fire has been "reduced three-fold", but did not specify in what time frame.

Speaking to news agency AFP, Irina Luryeva, a director at state-owned energy company Turkmengaz said, "Whereas before a huge glow from the blaze was visible from several kilometres away, hence the name 'Gateway to Hell', today only a faint source of combustion remains."

"Numerous wells have been drilled around the fire to capture methane," she said at an environmental conference in Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat on Thursday.

Turkmenistan is one of the world's most closed countries and is estimated to have the world's fourth largest gas reserves. It is also the world's biggest emitter of methane through gas leaks, according to the International Energy Agency - a claim denied by the authorities.

According to a report in British daily The Guardian, Methane leaks alone from Turkmenistan's two main fossil fuel fields causes more global heating a year than the entire carbon emissions of the UK.