Don’t miss a thing by getting the Daily Star’s biggest headlines straight to your inbox!
A courageous team of divers took the plunge through a 200ft deep hole in a bid to uncover the truth about the "well of hell" which is supposedly home to evil spirits.
For millions of years, frightened locals have steered clear of the mysterious pit, in fear that mythical figures such as jinns or genies live in the hole beneath the desert in eastern Yemen.
The humongous hole, which is officially called the Well of Barhout, was explored by a group of eight divers last week for what's believed to be the first such expedition.
But even though locals have lived in fright for centuries, the team of cavers from the Oman Cave Exploration Team said there were no signs of the supernatural.
The Oman Cave Exploration Team said they only discovered snakes, dead animals and cave pearls during their time in the "well of hell".
"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.
-
World's biggest nightclub which can hold 10k rundown and overgrown after closing doors
Kindi, who was among the cavers who took the plunge, commented on being one of the first people to ever take the risk, reports The Sun.
He said: "Passion drove us to do this, and we felt that this is something that will reveal a new wonder and part of Yemeni history.
"We collected samples of water, rocks, soil and some dead animals but have yet to have them analysed."
Kindi, who also owns a mining and petroleum consultancy firm, added: "There were dead birds, which does create some bad odours, but there was no overwhelming bad smell."
-
Dad spots 'shadowy figure' lurking in spare room but is too scared to call exorcist
Yemeni officials said they were not aware of what was in the gigantic pit because 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 in June.
"We noticed strange things inside. We also smelled something strange… It's a mysterious situation."
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here.
Some have concluded that the well is in fact a supervolcano that will one day erupt, despite there being no scientific evidence for the theory.
In 2014 university professor Chris Fogwill suggested that the well was a collapsed pingo, which occurs when an ancient ice formation collapses.
He told the Daily Mail: "The erosion around the edge suggests it is not new."
- In the News
Source: Read Full Article