A video has surfaced of visitors to Costa Rica's infamous 'Cave of Death' with each marveling as the oxygen-deprived chamber snuffs out a giant torch in seconds. The clip shows a tour guide waving a large torch with a foot-long flame into the mouth of the Central American cave.
![[The recent video of the cave from April 2024, posted by TikToker Michael Adrescon (@MichaelCon), shows an apparent tour guide at this mysterious geological formation waving a large lit torch with a foot-long flame right into the mouth of the Central American cave]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/19/93436505-14222035-The_recent_video_of_the_cave_from_April_2024_posted_by_TikToker_-m-38_1734981816632.jpg)
In under seven seconds, the potent concentration of carbon dioxide gas (CO2) that pours out of the cave suddenly snuffs out his torch. Further illustrating the unusual atmosphere within the 'Cave of Death' ('Cueva de la Muerte'), the weight of this heavier CO2 can be seen flattening the torch's plume of smoke as it wafts away, leaving a flat plane of eerie grey smoke.
![[Belgium-based cave explorer Guy van Rentergem (above) visited Costa Rica's 'Cave of Death' in 2019. A trained chemical engineer, van Rentergem has spent decades both exploring and mapping caves using Terrestrial Light Detection and Ranging (T-LiDAR) scanning]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/17/93433943-14222035-image-a-32_1734974694363.jpg)
The shape of the smoke, as it oozes out of the cave, is a sign of how this thick CO2 gas presses downward, squeezing oxygen out of the cave entrance. 'Small animals will enter the cave and asphyxiate, usually in a few moments,' Belgium-based cave explorer Guy van Rentergem explained.
![[Visitors to the Cave of Death demonstrate its potency by holding a lit torch to the entrance. Note the warning sign adorned with deathly skulls and crossbones saying: 'Danger! No trespassing beyond this point']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/18/84701285-14222035-Visitors_to_the_Cave_of_Death_demonstrate_its_potency_by_holding-a-33_1734978976280.jpg)
The cave is continuously fed carbon CO2 from a nearby volcano, the Poas Volcano, which enters from the back of the geological formation. Every hour, as much as 66 pounds of CO2 flows out of the 'Cave of Death,' according to van Rentergem, who is also a trained chemical engineer.
![[The Cave of Death - or 'Cueva de la Muerte' in the local Spanish - is in the Recreo Verde tourist complex in the district of Venicia, Costa Rica]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/23/18/84700599-14222035-The_Cave_of_Death_or_Cueva_de_la_Muerte_in_the_local_Spanish_is_-a-34_1734978980319.jpg)
'In a year, this is 263 tons of carbon dioxide or equivalent to a car driving 2.2 million kilometers [1.4 million miles],' van Rentergem said, 'or 56 times around the world.'. The shape of the smoke as it oozes out of the cave (above), researchers said, is a sign of how this thick CO2 gas presses downward, squeezing oxygen out of the cave entrance - which has suffocated many unsuspecting tiny creatures who have tried to explore it.
