
The Dyatlov Pass Incident - vinayakkulkarni
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyatlov_Pass_incident
======
srper2
Tent put in stupid spot on snow slope leading to it being hit by small
avalanche in night, which slammed metal stove and wooden bunks into injured
victims. Panicked, they cut open the tent from inside and ran from the slope,
fearing another, worse avalance, taking injured people with them (leaving
torch on tent in rush). Put the most injured in a small snow cave, wrapped her
with their clothing, thinking they could go back for more and stay warm with a
fire, but ran out of firewood (all small lower branches were broken from
surrounding trees). Person/s tried to go back to tent and died of cold on way,
others died quickly afterwards (paradoxical undressing etc). Nothing weird
happened at all. Probably too much alcohol, stupidity, dumb decisions and then
panick. There is a full Russian coroners report online.

~~~
chewz
> Tent put in stupid spot on snow slope leading to it being hit by small
> avalanche

Tent put in a place where slope is only 15 degrees, no signs of avalanche

> ran from the slope, fearing another, worse avalance, taking injured people
> with them

There were traces of 8 people walking slowly downhill

> ran out of firewood (all small lower branches were broken from surrounding
> trees

There was enough of dead wood around better as firewood then fresh branches.
Te fire wasn't tended to at all.

> Person/s tried to go back to tent and died of cold on way

If you believe coroner report they were all quite well dressed (for example
Kolmogorova - two hats, long sleeve undershirt, sweater, checked shirt and
another sweater, cotton sport pants, trousers, ski pants and three pairs of
socks. Two pairs were thin, then the third pair was woolen with insoles
inside.)

[https://dyatlovpass.com/death#Kolmogorova](https://dyatlovpass.com/death#Kolmogorova)

> Probably too much alcohol

They have sworn off alcohol for the trip. A small flask of medicinal alcohol
had been found sealed.

> There is a full Russian coroners report online

Coroner reports describe several traumas (pressing on chest cavity, bitten off
finger found in the mouth (so bitten at the moment of death), severe burns
consistent with torture rather then accidental burn, broken nose, choking with
blood, bruise looking like left from a baton, fracture of the frontal bone and
hemorrhages ) and then conclude hypothermia.

[] [https://dyatlovpass.com/death](https://dyatlovpass.com/death)

[] [https://www.facebook.com/dyatlovmania/posts/forensic-
patholo...](https://www.facebook.com/dyatlovmania/posts/forensic-pathologist-
eduard-tumanov-considers-that-on-krivonischenkos-body-were-/2068699123426019/)

> It looks as if Rustem fell repeatedly on his face as he was walking down the
> mountain. And every time he fell he managed to hit the sides of the his
> head. Rustem's body was with icy bed under from the hardening of the thawing
> snow. This means that the body fell when relatively still warm and there was
> a noticeable heat exchange into the environment. []

[https://dyatlovpass.com/death#Slobodin](https://dyatlovpass.com/death#Slobodin)

~~~
chewz
And for the record. (this info is better available to Russian speakers).

Russia general Attorney Office re-opened the case in February 2019. We might
hope for some documents surfacing.

There is a lot of living witnesses coming forward on Russian TV (and also a
lot of freaks).

There are no ground for exhumation of the bodies yet. Exception being the
Semyon (Alexander) Zolotaryov for whose grave no records had been found. The
grave had been opened and two DNA expertise made. First inconclusive and
second confirmed a relation.

However there are still doubts about Zolotaryov identity. Coroner report
describes tattoos [ “DAERMMUAZUAYA” ] (which only zeks (prisoners and criminal
element) had at the time in Russia). Zolotaryov being handsome PE teacher (and
wearing sleeveless shirt on multiple occasions) is well remembered by many as
not having any tattoos.

Some people remember Zolotaryov's golden tooth, the exhumated body had
multiple steel implants instead.

There is many more doubts about Zolotaryov's identity. He had been seen in two
places at the same time on multiple occasions, he had a traitor brother
(possibly kept in Gulag), he used two names (Semyon and Alexander), he worked
as simple PE teacher but at one of the forbidden cities in Siberia, he moved a
lot around the country on some tourist expedition always close to USSR
borders. His little son vanished at the time of his death (into foster care)
and never surfaced despite being actively searched for 50 years by boy's
mother.

We also know that Yuri Krivonischenko's father was no ordinary Joe. He had
been constructor of several atomic power plants in Russia and Ukraine
protected personally by Stalin from persecution.

Yuri Krivonischenko had been working at Mayak in Chelyabinsk-40, where a
massive nuclear disaster, second in severity only to Chernobyl, occurred in
1957.

Krivonischenko quit his job at Mayak abruptly just before the trip. He had
received letter denying him to quit his job (that being Russia in 1959). He
disregarded the letter (perhaps not being afraid of consequences due to his
father's position).

As for Kolevatov we know he graduated from the Mining and Metallurgical
College in Sverdlovsk and was sent to Moscow to work at secret PO Box No. 3394
(NKVD laboratory "B", focused on creating protection against ionizing
radiation). Then he transferred back to UPI in Siberia. This is very unlikely
to be voluntary career move but more of pattern of being recruited and given
some mission.

> Only Muscovites received work in Moscow, and finding a job for a nonresident
> in the capital meant pulling out a winning lottery ticket.

Only Kolevatov had his Finish knife registered at the police. (At the time
laws of USSR made possesion of Finish knife a criminal offence)

[] [https://dyatlovpass.com/yuri-krivonichenko-mayak-
documents](https://dyatlovpass.com/yuri-krivonichenko-mayak-documents)

[] [https://dyatlovpass.com/prosecutor-generals-
office?lid=1](https://dyatlovpass.com/prosecutor-generals-office?lid=1)

[] [https://dyatlovpass.com/rakitin-on-
kolevatov](https://dyatlovpass.com/rakitin-on-kolevatov)

------
gm3dmo
The 8th dyatlov pass headline on Hacker News. It's like Groundhog Day.

~~~
mindcrime
There are a handful of links (or closely related groups of links about a
particular topic) that show up here over and over and over and over and over
and over and over again... it's just the way things are. I guess some topics
are just timeless.

Look how many stories have been posted about Amelia Earhart, for example:

[https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&qu...](https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=false&query=amelia%20earhart&sort=byPopularity&type=story)

or D.B. Cooper

[https://hn.algolia.com/?q=d.b.+cooper](https://hn.algolia.com/?q=d.b.+cooper)

------
dang
A thread from 2016:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11828346](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11828346)

------
jandrese
This is one of those mysteries where the sensational story covered up fairly
mundane facts.

[https://www.cracked.com/article_16671_6-famous-unsolved-
myst...](https://www.cracked.com/article_16671_6-famous-unsolved-mysteries-
with-really-obvious-solutions.html)

------
avl999
They also made a movie out of it
[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dyatlov_pass_incident](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dyatlov_pass_incident)
used to be on Netflix, not sure if it still is. It wasn't bad.

~~~
read_if_gay_
There's a game named Kholat too. I liked the atmosphere but didn't end up
playing much, got kinda bored. It's a puzzle horror game.

------
sandworm101
Terminal burial. Paradoxical undressing. People do strange things when they
get cold. In winter mountains, it is not unusual to find bodies in unusual
situations. People abandon warm tents, walk barefoot, and make stupid route
decisions.

~~~
curious_fella1
I think these death notes sum up the most interesting parts of the debacle.

Hypothermia; leader of group

Hypothermia

Internal bleeding from severe chest trauma

Hypothermia

Hypothermia

Hypothermia

Hypothermia

Fatal skull injury

Severe chest trauma, eyes missing

~~~
chewz
[https://dyatlovpass.com/death](https://dyatlovpass.com/death)

More like

Bayonet wound in front of the chest - leader of the group

Hypothermia (signs of torture with fire)

[https://youtu.be/_WSmcnGT0wU?t=100](https://youtu.be/_WSmcnGT0wU?t=100)

Hypothermia (signs of severe chest trauma)

Hypothermia (severe nose bleading, trauma from riffle butt or baton on a hip)

Fatal skull injury (hypothermia)

Broken ribs, chest trauma

Broken skull

Broken neck

Broken ribs (possibly not member of the group)

[https://youtu.be/-0PLLHogdbE?t=6](https://youtu.be/-0PLLHogdbE?t=6)

[https://youtu.be/rvNbjCDNOC4?t=192](https://youtu.be/rvNbjCDNOC4?t=192)

[https://youtu.be/UM2csYGEU5k?t=2197](https://youtu.be/UM2csYGEU5k?t=2197)

[https://youtu.be/QPpGQwprYP4](https://youtu.be/QPpGQwprYP4)

Plus many mysteries surrounding at least 3 members of the group.

[https://dyatlovpass.com/rakitin-on-
kolevatov](https://dyatlovpass.com/rakitin-on-kolevatov)

[https://dyatlovpass.com/konstantin-
krivonischenko?rbid=18461](https://dyatlovpass.com/konstantin-
krivonischenko?rbid=18461)

[https://youtu.be/uBzHvq3fWh8?t=1230](https://youtu.be/uBzHvq3fWh8?t=1230)

[https://youtu.be/-0PLLHogdbE?t=6](https://youtu.be/-0PLLHogdbE?t=6)

------
cruano
I first heard about this from those mini-documentaries that lemmino does on
youtube

[https://youtu.be/Y8RigxxiilI](https://youtu.be/Y8RigxxiilI)

it's a great video explaining many of the theories revolving this incident

