The story behind the 'Door to Hell'

In 1971, scientists drilling for oil fields in the Karakum Desert, then a part of Soviet Union, came upon a natural gas haven.

The Darvaza gas crater, as it was named, came to be after the ground collapsed from the weight of the drilling machines. Several craters were formed but Darvaza, with a 70-meter diameter, is the biggest one.

In order to avoid any future explosions and because the methane gas began killing the local animals, scientists decided to burn the gas away, a common practice in such situations. Normally, several weeks is enough to get rid of gas pockets in the ground.

However now, more than 40 years later, the gas is still burning and is visible from kilometers away. Since then, the pit became a tourist attraction and was dubbed the 'Door to Hell' or the 'Gates of Hell'.

Few attempts have been made to extinguish the fiery pit but none have succeeded.