http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_Accident
-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, Dr. Boris Vozrozhdenny stated 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".[1]
-Forensic radiation tests had shown high doses of radioactive contamination on the clothes of a few victims.[1]
-Released documents contained no information about the condition of the skiersâ internal organs.
The final verdict was that the group members all died because of a "compelling unknown force". The inquest ceased officially in May 1959 as a result of 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.
Controversy surrounding investigation
Some researchers claim some facts were missed, perhaps ignored, by officials:[2][3]
-12-year-old Yury Kuntsevich, who would later become head of the Yekaterinburg-based Dyatlov Foundation (see below), attended five of the hikers' funerals and recalls their skin had a "deep brown tan".[1]
-The hikers' clothing was found to be highly radioactive.[1]
-Another group of hikers (about 50 kilometers south of the incident) reported that they saw strange orange spheres in the night sky to the north (likely in the direction of Kholat Syakhl) on the night of the incident.[1] Similar "spheres" were observed in Ivdel and adjacent areas continually during the period of February to March 1959, by various independent witnesses (including the meteorology service and the military).[1] But these were later proven to be launches of R-7 intercontinental missiles by Eugene Buyanov.[8]
-Some reports suggest that there was a great deal of scrap metal in the area, leading to speculation that the military had utilized the area secretly and might have been engaged in a cover-up.[1]
-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, Dr. Boris Vozrozhdenny stated 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".[1]
-Forensic radiation tests had shown high doses of radioactive contamination on the clothes of a few victims.[1]
-Released documents contained no information about the condition of the skiersâ internal organs.
The final verdict was that the group members all died because of a "compelling unknown force". The inquest ceased officially in May 1959 as a result of 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.
Controversy surrounding investigation
Some researchers claim some facts were missed, perhaps ignored, by officials:[2][3]
-12-year-old Yury Kuntsevich, who would later become head of the Yekaterinburg-based Dyatlov Foundation (see below), attended five of the hikers' funerals and recalls their skin had a "deep brown tan".[1]
-The hikers' clothing was found to be highly radioactive.[1]
-Another group of hikers (about 50 kilometers south of the incident) reported that they saw strange orange spheres in the night sky to the north (likely in the direction of Kholat Syakhl) on the night of the incident.[1] Similar "spheres" were observed in Ivdel and adjacent areas continually during the period of February to March 1959, by various independent witnesses (including the meteorology service and the military).[1] But these were later proven to be launches of R-7 intercontinental missiles by Eugene Buyanov.[8]
-Some reports suggest that there was a great deal of scrap metal in the area, leading to speculation that the military had utilized the area secretly and might have been engaged in a cover-up.[1]
