In early February 1959, one of the worst tourist tragedies of the Soviet Union took place in the Northern Urals. 9 young, strong, friendly and experienced tourists found themselves in the bitter frost without warm clothes, shoes and other equipment. They all died from hypothermia and injury. The reason that led to these fatal events still remains a mystery.
Search for the missing group
In mid-January 1959, a group of nine people led by 23-year-old student of UPI Igor Dyatlov went on a hike that was supposed to last a little less than a month. On February 15, 1959, they did not get in touch at the checkpoint, and at the insistence of relatives and friends of the tourists, a few days later, search and rescue groups went to look for them. On February 26, they found a tent that had been cut open, containing frozen blankets, shoes, outerwear and personal belongings of the Dyatlovites.
The only strange person in the campaign was 37-year-old Alexander (aka Semyon) Zolotarev. Before the fateful campaign, none of the members of the group knew him. Some researchers see it as the cause of the tragedy on the "Mountain of the Dead".
An extinguished fire and two corpses - Yuri Doroshenko and Georgy (Yuri) Krivonischenko - were found 1.5 km down from the tent under a spreading cedar. On the same day, in the direction from the cedar to the tent, the group leader Igor Dyatlov and Zinaida Kolmogorova were found, and on March 5, search engines found the body of Rustem Slobodin. The tourists were stripped and naked, their faces were tinted orange. As established by the forensic medical examination, all five died from hypothermia, i.e. frozen.
After 2 months of continuous searches in a stream at a depth of 2 meters under the snow, the bodies of the remaining members of the group were found: Alexander (Semyon) Zolotarev, Lyudmila Dubinina, Nikolai Thibault-Brignol and Alexander Kolevatov. The second group of bodies was strikingly different from the bodies found in February-March. Of these, only Kolevaty had no serious injuries. The faces of Dubinina and Zolotarev were disfigured by decomposition, eyes were missing, Lyudmila had no tongue, and her hyoid bone was broken. In addition, both had several broken pairs of ribs. Thibault-Brignoles and Zolotarev had depressed skull injuries incompatible with life. The authorities came to the conclusion that the tourists were victims of a natural disaster (avalanche, storm), which they could not cope with. The case was closed and classified for 25 years.
There are more questions than answers
From the very beginning, they took a nondisclosure agreement from the relatives and friends of the deceased group, as well as from everyone who took part in the search. The tragedy has turned into a legend, the controversy about this campaign has not subsided for more than 50 years.
In the testimony of several witnesses, some kind of fireballs appear that could have caused the death of tourists. However, the authorities did not consider this issue.
The most frequently asked questions are:
- why the authorities were in no hurry to start searching for the missing group, and then for a long time refused to bury the Dyatlovites in Sverdlovsk, - why the inspection of the scene and the autopsy were carried out so carelessly, - what did the strange color of the faces of the victims mean, why they carried out the radiological examination
- where did the last four tourists get such terrible injuries.
And, perhaps, the most important question: what made the brave and experienced tourists cut their homes and jump out into the 30-degree frost without outerwear and shoes.
Versions of the death of the Dyatlov group
Over the decades of the mysterious tragedy, about 70 different versions have accumulated, from more or less intelligible to ufological and mystical. Currently, only a few of them prevail.
The avalanche version described by E. Buyanov seems to be the most plausible. According to her, the tourists made a series of mistakes that led to the death of the entire group. The tent was set up on a slope with a slope of 20 °, which caused a small ice-snow board to come down, which crushed the tent and injured tourists. In complete darkness, under the groans and cries of the wounded, the Dyatlovites got out of the tent, cutting it with knives. A raging storm was waiting for them in the street. All they managed to do was to pull the victims out from under the rubble, put on those things that were visible and try to move away to a safe distance. They acted in a united and organized manner: they dug a hole where the wounded were laid, gave them their warm clothes, lit a fire, and then tried to return to the tent, but could not cope with the elements and froze.
In addition, there are a number of versions that wild animals or Bigfoot could scare tourists to a pulp. And also that they could quarrel among themselves and fight.
According to the testimony of the tourist group, which was on the other side of Mount Otorten, on the evening of February 1, they observed some strange light phenomenon over the pass, which was later called the Dyatlov Pass. On this basis, several assumptions are put forward, what tourists could see on the night of February 1 to February 2. It could be a deflected rocket, ball lightning, UFO crash, etc.
Another noteworthy version is the conspiracy theory. Its essence is that three of the 9 Dyatlovites were KGB officers and were preparing a controlled delivery of items with radiation for agents of foreign intelligence. However, something went wrong as planned, and the agents forced the tourists to undress and kicked them out into the cold, and then finished off and faked a hasty leaving the tent. In other versions, spies are replaced by escaped prisoners, Mansi hunters, or Soviet soldiers guarding a top-secret training ground.
Despite the fact that many versions sound convincing enough, none of them explains all the strange facts of the criminal case.
