In 1971, the Soviets opened the Door to Hell, and 42 years later that door is still open. A natural gas field in Derweze, Turkmenistan, the Door to Hell is the site of a former Soviet oil operation that went wrong when a rig collapsed into a large crater. Soviet geologists decided the best thing to do was light the crater on fire to burn off its poisonous methane gas, but things didn’t go as planned, and the fire still burns today.

The Derweze crater has been named The Door to Hell. The 230ft wide pit was given the fitting name by local residents in the village of Derweze due to the searing heat it emits and the red glow that can be seen by the community, with a population of just 350, a few miles away. That Russian oil company now owes us a stairway to heaven.