「地獄の門」の消火指示　トルクメン大統領

【アシガバートＡＦＰ＝時事】中央アジア・トルクメニスタンのグルバングルイ・ベルドイムハメドフ大統領は８日、５０年にわたり天然ガスが燃える巨大クレーター「地獄の門」の消火方法を見つけるよう専門家に指示した。（写真はトルクメニスタン・カラクム砂漠の「地獄の門」）
　地獄の門は、カラクム砂漠の中央部ダルバザ）村に位置し、直径７０メートル、深さ２０メートル。旧ソ連時代の１９７１年、天然ガスがたまった巨大な空洞の真上に設置された掘削リグが地面とともに崩落してできた。燃焼は旧ソ連がガスの拡散を抑えるために点火したのが始まりで、以来、消火できずに燃え続けている。
　ベルドイムハメドフ氏は国営テレビで、地獄の門は人間が造りだしたもので、「環境と近隣住民の健康に悪影響を及ぼしている」と指摘。「莫大（ばくだい）な収入源となり、国民の福祉のために役立てることができる貴重な天然資源をわれわれは失い続けている」と語った。
　同氏は２０１０年にも消火を命じたが鎮火できなかった。
　地獄の門は人気観光地となっている。２０１８年には、ベルドイムハメドフ氏により「カラクムの輝き」と正式に命名された。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/01/11-11:52）

Turkmenistan's strongman leader has ordered experts to find a way to finally extinguish a massive five-decade old fire in a giant natural gas crater in the Central Asian country, dubbed the Gateway to Hell.
Citing environmental and economic concerns, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov appeared on state television Saturday telling officials to put out the flames at the Darvaza gas crater in the middle of the vast Karakum desert.
In 2010, Berdymukhamedov also 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.
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said that the man-made crater negatively affects both the environment and the health of the people living nearby.
We are losing valuable natural resources for which we could get significant profits and use them for improving the well-being of our people, he said in televised remarks.
Berdymukhamedov instructed officials to find a solution to extinguish the fire.
The crater was created in 1971 during a Soviet drilling accident that hit a gas cavern, causing the drilling rig to fall in and the earth to collapse underneath it.
To prevent the dangerous fumes from spreading, the Soviets decided to burn off the gas by setting it on fire.
The pit has been ablaze ever since and previous attempts to put it out have been unsuccessful.
The resulting crater -- 70 metres (229 feet) wide and 20 metres (65 feet) deep -- is a popular tourist attraction in the ex-Soviet country.
In 2018, the president officially renamed it to the Shining of Karakum.