Yemen: A group of researchers descends into the “abyss of hell” | The hole in the desert is over a hundred meters deep

A team of researchers descended into the so-called “hell pit,” located in the middle of the Yemeni desert. It is a hole 20 meters wide and a hundred meters deep that has awakened countless stories.

The investigation focused on the first documented descent into the well. Out of superstition or fear, the locals always refused to go inside, until the expedition of the Oman Cave Exploration Team (OCET), a country neighboring Yemen, was organized.

What did you find? Snakes, dead animals and pearls. “There were snakes, but they won’t bother you unless you bother them,” said Mohammed al-Kindi, professor of geology at the German University of Technology in Oman.

A total of eight experts in caving (the science that studies caves) rappelled down, while two other researchers watched from the surface. “Passion drove us to do it, and we believe it is something that will reveal a new wonder and part of Yemen’s history, ”Kindi added.. “We collected samples of water, rocks, earth and some dead animals, but we have not yet analyzed them,” said the expert, who clarified that “there was no bad smell, only that of a few dead birds “.

Hypothesis on the origin of the “Well of Hell”

The Yemeni authorities themselves assured that they did not know what was inside the well and that they had at most been able to descend to 60 meters. One theory indicates that it could be a volcano, although there is no evidence to support this hypothesis. Others claim it could be a pingo, a geological phenomenon that has been detected in Russia in recent years.

However, Chris Fogwill, professor of glaciology and paleoclimatology at Keele University, says it is a sinkhole caused by erosion from limestone or moving brines.

For the inhabitants of the province of Al-Mahra, it is “a prison for demons”, and the bad smell which would emanate from its interior would be the sign that is the “mouth of hell”. And they believe that visits to the crater and their mere mention can bring bad luck.