Very interesting
On January 23, 1959 a group of 9 Russian hikers from the Ural Polytechic University led by Igor Dyatlov went on a hike to the Ural Mountains (7 guys and two gals - Igor Dyatlov, Alexander Kolevatov, Rustem Slobodin, Yuri Krivonischenko, Nikolay Tibo-Briniol, Yuri Doroshenko, Alexander Zolotarev, Ludmila Dubinina, Zina Kolmogorova). They were supposed to return to the base camp on February 12 and then let the University know they were alright by a telegram. On January 31 they reached the upper Auspia river where they planned to leave a part of their stuff and food in a temporary camp, and then next day to take a trip with light baggage 6 miles north to the Otorten mountain (which is more like a big smooth hill). It's only around 14:00 next day after finally setting up their camp in the woods surrounding the mountain they moved out and began their ascent on the gentle mountain slope to the summit. For whatever reason they decided to spend the following night right on the bare windy slope instead of going to the woods - probably because they had realized that by the time they would have gotten there it would have been too dark to set up a camp. Anyway, it was no big deal to spend a night on a windy slope for such experienced hikers as they all were, so they set up a tent, ate some food and then hit the sack.
Fast forward in time, the University didn't recieve their telegram on February 12. At that point no one worried yet - some delay may have happened due to weather etc. It's only on Februray 20 the University sent out a first rescue group, with several more following, and a few days later it became a big rescue operation with military and police aircrafts and choppers searching the places the Dyatlov's group might have been.
On February 26 they finally found their tent on the mountain. It had all their stuff inside - equipment, food, clothes. One tent's side had several long cuts - as later determined made from the inside - as if they left the tent in panic with no time to go through the entrance so they cut their way through with a knife. There were no any signs of a struggle in and around the tent. The only footprints in the snow went from their self-made tent exit down the slope to the woods below. Most of the footprints were barefoot and were said to belong to 8-9 different people. The footprints ended approx 500 meters from the tent, covered with snow from that point.
Later this day, an airplan discovered first bodies. 1500 meters away from the tent right where the woods began they found remains of a campfire under a big cedar tree. Bodies of two men - Doroshenko and Krivonischenko - were found lying around this campfire, naked. As later an autopsy concluded the cause of their deaths was hypothermia. No any injuries were found aside from a few minor scratches. 300 meters away from these bodies up the mountain and towards the tent, the body of Igor Dyatlov was found. He was lying on his back embrasing a small birch with one hand. 180 meters from his body farther towards the tent the body of Rustem Slobodin was found, and 150 meters from his body, again farther towards the tent, the body of a female member Zina Kolmogorova was discovered. Both Rustem and Zina were lying face down in dynamic poses as if they were trying to crawl up to the tent right until the moment they died. There was blood around the Zina's head which came out of her mouth. The cause of death for all three - Dyatlov, Slobodin, and Kolmogorova - was found to be hypothermia as well, with Dyatlov and Kolmogorova having no any injuries. Slobodin, however, had a crack in the skull with no skin and tissue damage, which was not the cause of his death though.
The search for the rest of the members continued for nearly two months. Only on May 4, 75 meters away from the camfire deeper in the woods and under 4 meters of snow they finally found bodies of the other 4 members. The Alexander Kolevatov's body had a few head injuries and the cause of his death was hypothermia. The other three died from severe internal injuries - Ludmila Dubinina had her ribs crushed on both sides of chest and died because of internal bleeding. She also had her whole tounge missing. Alexander Zolotarev had his ribs all broken too and died of the same reason. Tibo-Briniol had his skull badly crushed which was the cause of his death. All of them had no skin and tissue damage.
There are a lot more little strange details here and there that complicate the issue even more - like an unusual orange tint to their skin the forensics team reported, a higher than normal radiation level of some of their clothes, and much more.
A lot of different theories and explanations have been offered, none of them either fit the evidence, or make sense. Why and from what they panically ran away naked in the middle of the night at -30C temperature and what happended next, is still a puzzle.
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Journalists reporting on the available parts of the inquest files claim that it states:
-Six of the group members died of hypothermia and three of fatal injuries.
-There were no indications of other people nearby apart from the nine travelers on Kholat Syakhl, nor anyone in the surrounding areas.
-The tent had been ripped open from within.
-The victims had died 6 to 8 hours after their last meal.
-Traces from the camp showed that all group members left the camp of their own accord, on foot.
-To dispel the theory of an attack by the indigenous Mansi people, one doctor indicated that the fatal injuries of the three bodies could not have been caused by another human being, "because the force of the blows had been too strong and no soft tissue had been damaged".
-Forensic radiation tests had shown high doses of radioactive contamination on the clothes of a few victims.
The final verdict was that the group members all died because of a "compelling unknown force". The inquest ceased officially in May 1959 due to the "absence of a guilty party". The files were sent to a secret archive, and the photocopies of the case became available only in the 1990s, with some parts missing.
There are about 20 versions of the death of a tourist group. From mysticism to the crime.
A view of the tent as the rescuers found it on Feb. 26, 1959. The tent had been cut open from inside, and most of the skiers had fled in socks or barefoot
Yuri Yudin hugging Lyudmila Dubinina as he prepares to leave the group due to illness, as Igor Dyatlov looks on
Skiers setting up camp at about 5. p.m. on Feb. 2, 1959. Photo taken from a roll of film found at the campHope you like the story,
Dee
