Turkmenistan plans to close its 'Gateway to Hell' January 08, 2022 at 02:19AM

In 2010, Turkmenistan president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov had ordered experts to find a way to put out the flames that have been burning ever since a Soviet drilling operation went awry in 1971. He said that the man-made crater "negatively affects both the environment and the health of the people living nearby".