The prosecutor's office of the Sverdlovsk region is going to put an end to the investigation of the tragedy of the Dyatlov pass.
In September, the relatives of the victims contacted the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation, and it was decided to resume the investigation. A trip to the scene is planned in March.
A group of 9 students led by Igor Dyatlov died in the winter of 1959 during a ski trip in the northern Urals. The group did not reach their destination. Later it was established that on the night of February 1–2, the young people left their tent in a hurry, after which they died from the cold within several hours.
Autopsy revealed severe injuries in three of them.
60 years ago it was not possible to establish the causes of the tragedy. The investigators did not find traces of crime, they wrote down in the materials: the reason is a spontaneous force that people could not overcome.
At the moment, the prosecutor's office is considering three versions of what happened: an avalanche, a hurricane or a "snow slab". The latter looks the most realistic.
The pass, which is now known as the "Dyatlov Pass", is located between Mount Kholatchakhl almost 1100 meters high and an unnamed peak 905 meters high. Tourists came from the south. It is assumed that they devoted almost the entire day of February 1 to the ascent to the top of Kholatchakhla. And then their path was supposed to run to the west and northwest, to the next peak - Otorten. Apparently, Dyatlov was going to lead the group along the slopes. Perhaps it was for this reason that the decision was made to set up camp on the eastern, leeward side of the mountain - just 300 meters from the summit, and not go down into the valley of one of the tributaries of the Lozva River. It is known that the tent was set up on an area with a steepness of about 18-20 degrees. And in order to clear the area for it, the Dyatlovites cut off part of the snow on the slope to a height of about 1 meter.
At the same time, judging by the archival data from neighboring meteorological stations, in the winter of 1959, several waves of powerful warming were observed in this area at once. The fact that the temperature varied in a wide range is also indicated by Igor Dyatlov's entries in his diary: either frost to 26 degrees, then only minus 8 in the morning, not even at the peak of warming up.
Promotional video:
The second important factor is snow. The moment of setting up the tent is about 5 pm. The surviving photographs show that the snowdrifts are very high, tourists in them are waist-deep. It is noticeable how it sweeps. This can only happen with a strong wind blowing from the top of the mountain.
It is not only the amount of snow that is important, but also its structure. According to the data from the Nyaksimvol meteorological station closest to the Dyatlov pass, almost 20 mm of precipitation fell on the eve of the tragedy, which is two-thirds of the monthly norm. At the same time, the height of the snow cover increased only until January 27. After that, the snowdrifts began to settle. The reason is temperature-wind compaction.
The snow cover was formed unevenly. Due to weather changes, at least 2 layers of deep rime could have formed in the thickness of the snow - in fact, 2 layers of ice 16 and 22 centimeters from the ground. At the same time, the top layer of snow was very dense, as experts say in such cases, a "snow slab" formed on the slope. Having cut off a part of the snowdrift, tourists probably violated its integrity.
Judging by the photos already taken by the investigators on the spot, the snow did not completely cover the tent, but on one side. And according to experts, this explains the nature of the injuries that the three participants in the hike received: broken ribs and internal bleeding. Autopsy reports cited "high force exposure" as the cause. The most severe injuries were received by Nikolai Thibault-Brignoles, he was probably located at the very edge of the tent: a pathologist discovered a severe head injury in him.
What happened next is not difficult to understand. Knowing about the danger of re-descent, the tourists hastened to leave the tent. They moved down the slope, because it was there that the forest was, therefore, fuel for the fire is the only chance to survive until dawn. The Dyatlovites tried to start a fire, but this did not save them. The Ural cold was stronger. Of course, this is only a theory so far. 9 specialized examinations planned by the prosecutor's office must confirm or deny it. The department expects to announce the result and put an end to the case in August 2019, Meteovest reports.