Gateway to hell? Chinese villagers horrified

Gateway to hell? Chinese villagers horrified

Gateway to hell? Chinese villagers horrified to find mysterious 3ft-wide hole spewing fire from local hillside Locals had noticed the ground in the area was warmer than usual Experts can’t get close enough to determine how deep the hole is Temperature measured at 792C from two metres away Thought to be caused by a coal seam spontaneously combusting. A mysterious sinkhole spewing fire and incredible heat has appeared in a Chinese hillside. Geologists and media have flocked to the desolate mountain on the outskirts of Urumqi, in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in north-western China, since it appeared a few weeks ago. Locals told Chinese media that they had noticed the ground in the area had been warm underfoot for some time. The hill is not in a volcanic area, and experts from Xinjiang Meitian Geological Bureau think the hole is caused by the layer of spontaneously combusted coal underneath the ground, which leads the surface layer to collapse. ‘The phenomenon has existed in the area for a few decades,’ Huang Wei, an engineer from the bureau told China Central TV Station. He added that smoke often comes from under the ground on this hill in the spring and autumn.