"GATE TO HELL" Discovered In Turkey

Archaeologists in Italy recently announced that they have found a “gate to hell” amongst ruins in southwestern Turkey. 

The site, now called Pamukkale, was found in the ancient Phrygian city of Hierapolis. It is known as ‘Pluto’s Gate.’

It is believed that the cave was celebrated as the portal to the underworld in Greco-Roman mythology and tradition. The opening is described as being filled with lethal mephitic vapours.

“This space is full of a vapour so misty and dense that one can scarcely see the ground,” Greek geographer Strabo (64/63 BC—about 24 AD) wrote in ancient texts. “Any animal that passes inside meets instant death. I threw in sparrows and they immediately breathed their last and fell.”

The finding was announced this month at a conference on Italian archaeology in Istanbul, Turkey. Francesco D’Andria, a professor of classic archaeology at the University of Salento, led the team that found the cave.

“We found the Plutonium by reconstructing the route of a thermal spring,” D’Andria told Discovery News. “Indeed, Pamukkale’ springs, which produce the famous white travertine terraces originate from this cave.”

Upon excavation of the site, archeologists also found Ionic semi-columns that had inscriptions of dedication to the deities of the underworld, Pluto and Kore.

“We could see the cave’s lethal properties during the excavation,” D’Andria continued. “Several birds died as they tried to get close to the arm opening, instantly killed by the carbon dioxide fumes.”

Other researchers agree that this is an astounding discovery.

“This is an exceptional discovery as it confirms and clarifies the information we have from the ancient literary and historic sources,” Alister Filippini, a researcher in Roman history at the Universities of Palermo, Italy, and Cologne, told Discovery News.

D’Andria is not a stranger to rare findings. Two years ago, he claimed to have discovered the tomb of Saint Philip, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ.

D’Andria and his team are currently working on the digital reconstruction of the “gate to hell” site.

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Masquerade Arrested By Police In Abeokuta For Murder

The ancient city of Abeokuta was thrown into pandemonium on Monday after a masquerade allegedly shot dead an Islamic cleric identified as Lateef Sabiu during Egungun festival.

The attack on the Islamic cleric led to a reprisal attack as Islamic youths allegedly razed down a building belonging to traditional worshippers in protest against the murder of one of their members.

The 22-year Islamic Cleric was allegedly shot dead Sunday evening while he was on a motorcycle during a ‘stop and search’ in Ijaye area of the city.

It was gathered that the masquerade popularly called “lehin Aponle” (a Yoruba word that is usually said in full this way; “Lehin aponle, abuku lo ku, meaning, after respect comes disgrace), was allegedly armed with guns and other dangerous weapons.

Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO Muyiwa Adejobi, while confirming the incident told newsmen in Abeokuta that the Command had arrested three persons along with the masquerade over the murder of the late Cleric.

Adejobi stated that the Command had suspended further activities of the year 2013 edition of masquerade festival in the state.

“Those we arrested in connection with the murder are 40-year-old Ajayi Olabintan, Shittu Adeyemi, Wahed Babalola and the masquerade.”

Speaking on the incident, one of the community leaders, the Balogun of Ijaye and Aare of Egbaland, Chief Ganiyu Babayeju-Alemo, said the crisis has forced the Egba Traditional Council to suspend other activities for the 2013 Egungun festival in Abeokuta.

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Ezu River: 15 Mystery Corpses To Be Exhumed

Apparently the dead can no longer rest in peace as the Anambra state government, following shocking results from autopsy conducted on  three of the 18 mystery corpses evacuated from the Ezu River, has ordered the exhumation of the remaining 15 corpses already buried.

Commissioner of Police, Anambra State, Bala Nasarawa, had on Tuesday, said that three bodies, out of the 18 evacuated, had been selected for autopsy, as, according to him, the other 15 had decomposed and therefore buried.

But speaking to newsmen yesterday, in Awka, Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Lawrence Ikeako, who is a member of the autopsy team, said that following preliminary results, the remaining 15 corpses buried without scientific examination would be exhumed. While refusing to disclose details of the team’s findings, Ikeaku only said that the test so far carried out has been revealing.

He however maintained that exhuming the bodies was important to ascertaining the real cause of the death of each of the persons. He also assured the people of the state that the final outcome of the autopsy would be made public soon as the 15 bodies have been examined.

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Mad Woman Miraculously Regains Her Senses after Being Hit by a Car

The story has been told about the miraculous cure of a 40-year-old mentally ill woman who has been simply identified as Olubisi Aina at Sanyo area of Ibadan, Oyo State on Tuesday, 11th December, 2012 after an auto accident.

According to the Tribune, which reported the story, the way and manner in which Olubisi Aina regained her sanity after about a decade or more of insanity is amazing and it could be described as a wonder. Aina had been insane for 10 years or thereabout and paraded herself, most often nakedly, on the Sanyo-Temidire-Agbamu road, her habitation for over a decade.

She usually slept on her back with her face up in drainages or on the main road close to the bridge on Damo River in the area; and come rain or shine, Olubisi was always in her habitat and is well known in the neighbourhood. Perhaps that was her saving grace on Monday, 10th December, 2012 when a car ran over her where she was sleeping at about 9a.m.

Olubisi was quickly rushed to Oore-Ofe Hospital and Maternity Home where her bruised mouth and legs were attended to. However, after being discharged, patron of the hospital, Mr Toyin Adesina, advised that she should have a bath. She was later led by acquaintances to Damo River where she was given new sponge and soap for her bath. As she raised the sponge above her head, she said “Thank you God” in Yoruba Language. Instantly, she regained her sanity and whatever question was posed to her, she answered accurately!

Culled from the Tribune

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New Superstition: Boy Who Celebrated His 12th Birthday at 12 Midnight on 12:12:12 is the Antichrist

Kiam Moriya

Yes, it is no longer Barack Obama. As some already know, the American President had been recently fingered as the “Antichrist” by some people for some reasons best known to them. However, there is apparently a new candidate for the post!

Well, the number 12 has been a recurring figure in young Kiam Moriya’s life. Thus, it had been noted that when he turns 12, the whole world would be watching! The Alabama boy – who loves Krispy Kreme donuts and BMX biking – was born at 12:12 p.m. on December 12, 2000.

His twelfth birthday fell on Wednesday, 12/12/12. And his father had this to say: “We’ve joked around that he’s the chosen one,” Kiam’s father, Kazuo Moriya, told Today.com. While some say his son is lucky, others fear the boy is a sign of a pending apocalypse. “There are these weirdoes out there online, all these doomsday people, saying he needs to be killed and that he’s the Antichrist,” Moriya said. “We’re trying to tone it down because it’s a little freaky. It’s just a fun little story.”

The numerically bizarre date has swept the nation into frenzy, as luck-seekers scoop up lottery tickets and couples seek marriage licenses to wed on Wednesday. Real weirdoes, isn’t it? No wonder nothing will come out of their stories!

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