The Gates of Hell

Have you ever wondered where are the gates of hell on Earth?
They are actually in Turkmenistan.
The Darvaza gas crater, known also as The Gates of Hell or the Door to Hell, is a big burning hole in the Karakum desert.
It has 69 meters in diameter (226 ft), and is 30 meters (98 ft) deep.
The crater was made by accident. In 1971 Soviet geologist thought they had found a substantial oil field site. Soon after the drilling started the ground collapsed and all the equipment fell down in a big hole, as they had been drilling over a pocket of natural gas.
Natural gas which is mostly methane started to spread all around. Methane is not toxic but it does displace oxygen, and there was a risk of explosion. After some animals in the nearby began to die, scientists thought is best to set it on fire and predicted that it would burn for a few weeks. Today, after more than 45 years later, it is still burning.

The crater has become a popular tourist attraction.
The most spectacular view is by night, so visitors usually spend the night there in a tent.
There are no roads, no restaurants, no shops for food or souvenir all around. Only desert. Neither a fence around the crater.

During all this years no one is reported to have been killed, nor had been reported injured when the site collapsed.