The Ural employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations reassured those who were alarmed by the news about the lack of communication with the group of the prosecutor's office, which had previously gone to the Dyatlov Pass, in order to finally establish the causes and circumstances of the well-known tragic events of sixty years ago. The expedition along the route of the dead Sverdlovsk students took place in difficult weather conditions with the participation of specialists from various fields: from surveyors to meteorologists, as well as journalists, VGTRK employees, including the film crew of Vesti special correspondent Alexander Lukyanov.
In the mountains of the Northern Urals, where in 1959 a group of tourists died, a joint expedition of the TV channel "Russia" and the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" set off on their own route. By train to the Ivdel station of the Sverdlovsk region, from there by cars to the taiga village of Vizhai, where the participants change to snowmobiles. The only way to the pass lies along the thin ice of the river with large gullies and ice. Take with you a supply of fuel and equipment to investigate the mystery of the Dyatlov Pass. It is especially dangerous to move here at night, which the members of the group saw when they fell through the ice.
The expedition camp, unlike the dead group of tourists, was set up by the expedition members in a safe forest zone at the foot of Mount Holotchakhl, which in the Mansi language means “Mountain of the Dead”. The soil here is really practically lifeless - only moss can survive among the sharp stones. Due to the constant wind, even the branches of the trees that grow lower are directed in one direction.
Strong wind at the pass. Locals say that this wind blows constantly. Even in a winter hat and warm winter clothes, it is still cold, but what about the guys who jumped out of the tent without shoes and winter jackets. It's such a blizzard that it's hard to tell where the top is. The Dyatlovites tried to go to this mountain, but they did not succeed in doing it quickly. They had to go down to spend the night, but in order not to lose altitude, they did not go down so far.
According to the photographs preserved in the criminal case, we find the place where the tent of the missing tourists was discovered. Employees of the prosecutor's office, together with specialists from the geodetic service, record the exact coordinates of the scene. A 3D model of the pass will be created based on this data.
“Today, together with specialists in geodesy and cartography, we received the coordinates of the points that we need for the subsequent appointment of an examination,” explains Andrey Kuryakov, head of the department for the implementation of federal legislation of the Prosecutor's Office of the Sverdlovsk Region. “We made a circular photograph, now we have all the material to give to the experts.”
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This is done in order to respond to relatives - they have the right to know the truth. In addition, to prevent this in the future. The expedition was on the mountain in really difficult conditions. In the last lifetime photograph of the tourists of the Dyatlov group, one can see how they dig a flat area on a snowy slope. Andrey Malakhov, the host of the "Live" program, together with his group set up a tent using the same technology. An experiment on the formation of an avalanche in this area is being conducted.
“In a few seconds, watch how it sweeps! - Andrei Malakhov, the host of the "Live" program, is surprised. - I shook it, there was a clean tent, and now it's covered with snow again. After measuring the thickness of the snow, an expert glaciologist makes preliminary conclusions. “At this point, it is 159 centimeters,” Glaciologist Viktor Popovnin, PhD in Geography, measures the depth of the snow. - Somewhere less than a meter, somewhere more."
The avalanche, when it came from above, here it bent to the left. And the tent was touched on one side - it was a formation shift. Snow in this area is dense. One cubic meter can weigh half a ton, so even a slight displacement of the snow mass on a slope cut with shovels can cause serious injury. “If such a load presses on a person and presses the person against something dense - a ski, a bowler hat, then injuries are possible. The ribs are breaking because of the weight, which was recorded,”says glaciologist Viktor Popovnin. The section in the tent, according to the glaciologist, appeared in order to evacuate the wounded, covered with snow. Shoes could also be under the avalanche, so the tourists went down to the lowland to the nearest forest barefoot.
However, the forensic expert found in the declassified criminal case acts describing the bodies of the victims, where, among others, there were wounds that can be obtained in a fight - fists knocked into blood, scuffs, for example, from being tied with a rope on the leg of the group leader Igor Dyatlov. His body was found among dwarf birches. The official version of death is the impact of force majeure.
“There is a version that Dyatlov and other members of his group received injuries to the phalanges of the fingers when they walked and hit the dense crust,” explains forensic scientist Eduard Tumanov. If you squeeze your hand and hit, the hand goes through the snow. Damage should inevitably be on the dorsum of the hand, and such localization on the phalanges suggests that he hit something other than a snow embankment with his hands. Maybe it's a greatcoat or a person's clothing, something with a rough surface, but not snow.
“Dyatlov's group was pursued by some people. And it was the people who caused the injuries that led to the onset of death,”one of the expedition members said. Why the tourists prepared for hiking in difficult conditions could not survive by the fire, because he was divorced by them, the editor-in-chief of Komsomolskaya Pravda, and in the past, the professional skier-tourist Vladimir Sungorkin himself, cannot understand.
“They all had matches and celluloid or film or pieces of it. Mentioned: Someone's toys were found. So, they could be kindling. They burned very well,”notes the head of the group Vladimir Sungorkin. When the bodies of the dead were found, they found burnt branches as thick as an arm. Why the flooring was 70 meters away is a mystery!
“It is impossible to understand how experienced tourists died. After a few minutes by the fire, you can warm up your arms and legs. Now the snow will fall under the fire and there will be a hole, and there it is warm. Then you can move the fire and sit on a warm ground. And you are generally covered in chocolate! - note the members of the expedition to the Dyatlov pass. The expedition makes a fire in the same place, under the same cedar, where the bodies of the two dead were found by the search engines. There are a lot of dead wood around, branches break easily in winter. The bad weather in this place, closed from the wind, could wait out. But some of the guys decide to return to the tent and freeze on the way.
The Prosecutor General's Office of Russia has begun a supervisory review of this criminal case closed 60 years ago. Investigators will be ready to announce its results in August 2019 after conducting all the examinations. To establish the true reasons for the death of a group of 9 people, it is necessary to exhume the bodies, says forensic expert Eduard Tumanov. Then all the most fantastic versions from UFOs to attacks on Bigfoot people will be discarded.
Author: Alexander Lukyanov