「地獄の井戸」底に到達　悪魔は不在　イエメン

【ドバイＡＦＰ＝時事】悪魔の監獄との言い伝えが残り、ほとんど近づく者もいないイエメン東部の巨大な穴「バラフートの井戸」の底に、オマーンの探検隊が到達した。人が下り立つのは初めてとみられる。（写真はイエメン東部アルマハラ県にある巨大な穴「バラフートの井戸」）
　「地獄の井戸」とも呼ばれる穴は、アルマハラ県の砂漠の真ん中に位置し、幅は約３０メートル、深さは約１１２メートル。異臭を発しているという証言もある。
　オマーン洞窟探検隊（ＯＣＥＴ）が穴の底に下り、生きたヘビや動物の死骸、洞窟真珠を発見したが、悪魔の痕跡は見つけられなかった。
　２人が地上に残り、ドイツ工科大学のモハメド・キンディ教授（地質学）ら経験豊富な８人がロープを使って底に下りた。
　キンディ氏は今回の探検について「情熱に駆り立てられての行動だ」と説明。「新たな驚異とイエメンの歴史の一部が明らかになると感じた」と語った。
　さらに「水や石、土、動物の死骸のサンプルを採取したが、まだ分析できていない」とした上で、近日中に報告書を公表すると述べた。「鳥の死骸が悪臭を放っていたが、耐え難い悪臭はなかった」
　イエメン当局は６月、穴は「はるかな昔」から存在するが、底に下りた人間は一人もおらず、何があるかは分からないとＡＦＰに語っていた。
　現地の地質調査・鉱物資源当局責任者は、「井戸を５０～６０メートル以上下りたことがある。中には奇妙なものがいた。異臭もした。（中略）謎めいていた」と述べていた。
　何百年も前から語り継がれてきた伝承では、井戸には悪魔が潜んでいて、亀裂から不幸の種が出て来て、地上の生命を脅かすとされる。地元住民は井戸に近づくどころか、話すことさえ不安に思っている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/09/24-13:11）

A team of Omani cavers has made what is believed to be the first descent to the bottom of Yemen's fabled Well of Barhout -- a natural wonder shunned by many locals, who believe it is a prison for genies.
The forbidding 'Well of Hell', whose dark, round aperture creates a 30-metre (100 foot) wide hole in the desert floor of Yemen's eastern province of Al-Mahra, plunges approximately 112 metres (367 feet) below the surface and, according to some accounts, gives off strange odours.
Inside, the Oman Cave Exploration Team (OCET) found snakes, dead animals and cave pearls -- but no signs of the supernatural.
There were snakes, but they won't bother you unless you bother them, Mohammed al-Kindi, a geology professor at the German University of Technology in Oman, told AFP.
Kindi was among eight experienced cavers who rappelled down last week, while two colleagues remained at the surface.
Footage provided to AFP showed cave formations and grey and lime-green cave pearls, formed by dripping water.
Passion drove us to do this, and we felt that this is something that will reveal a new wonder and part of Yemeni history, said Kindi, who also owns a mining and petroleum consultancy firm.
We collected samples of water, rocks, soil and some dead animals but have yet to have them analysed, he said, adding that a report will soon be made public.
There were dead birds, which does create some bad odours, but there was no overwhelming bad smell.
Yemeni officials told AFP in June that they did not know what lay in the depths of the pit, which they estimated to be millions and millions of years old, adding that they had never reached the bottom.
We have gone to visit the area and entered the well, reaching more than 50-60 metres down, Salah Babhair, director general of Mahra's geological survey and mineral resources authority, said at the time.
We noticed strange things inside. We also smelled something strange... It's a mysterious situation.
Over the centuries, stories have circulated of malign figures known as jinns or genies living in the well, which some regard as the gate of hell.
Many residents of the area are uneasy about visiting the vast pit or even talking about it, for fear of ill fortune.
Yemenis have had enough bad luck as it is.
The country has been embroiled in a devastating civil war since 2014 that has triggered what the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with two-thirds of its 30-million population dependent on some form of aid.