A fascinating new view of the Dyatlov Pass incident presents several enlightening first-hand perspectives on the case, including rare information from the sister of one of the victims, whose name has become synonymous with a mysterious event.
Published by the BBC, the play excellentely revisits the infamous 1959 tragedy, in which nine Russian college students died in the Ural Mountains in unexplained circumstances that continue to bother researchers today.
One of the people interviewed for the article was Tatiana Perminova, who was 12 when her brother, Igor Dyatlov, embarked on the unfortunate walking trip. She recalled that their mother had tried to dissuade him from following the journey, arguing that he should focus on his studies. However, Perminova recalled, Igor managed to convince her after promising that it would be his last trip to the mountains before graduating. “And indeed,” his sister remarked sadly, “it was his last time.”
Coldly, Perminova revealed that she was the one who answered the phone at her house six decades ago, when authorities phoned with the frightening news that Igor had died.
She said:
The next day my parents were summoned to college, and the nightmare began.
As for what may have caused the disappearance of his brother and colleagues, Perminova indicated that families were as confused by the case as the rest of the world, and were insulted by the Russian authorities that “you will never know the truth, so stop to ask questions. ”
She stressed:
Don’t forget, in those days, if they told you to shut up, you would be silent.
However, with six decades since the incident, Perminova no longer harbors these fears. As such, she dismissed popular prosaic theories for what killed the group, such as an avalanche or hurricane, and suggested that something more sinister had occurred.
She asked:
If it was just an ordinary walk that went wrong because of extreme weather conditions, why worried the highest authorities in the country? I think that means something extraordinary has happened.
Although she did not seem to present a specific theory for what killed her brother and friends, Perminova spoke of the tremendous pain that families have suffered in the last sixty years with so many unanswered questions.
She said, noting an ongoing effort by independent investigators in Russia to exhume the bodies of the victims of Step Dyatlov for a further examination:
Emotionally, this is very difficult. Imagine digging up their coffins. But if there is no other way to find the answers, ok, let’s see what happens next.
Other firsthand witnesses featured in the play include a man who participated in the search that led to the discovery of the bodies of the victims, as well as a woman who lived in a nearby village at the time of the incident and claims to have seen a “bright and fiery object in the sky” which somehow resembled a missile. This observation seems to give credence to the possibility that Dyatlov and his comrades might have died from a cover-up accident. This was repeated by another local resident who was also 12 at the time of the incident and recalled how “there were rumors throughout the city that these students had participated in some kind of test or experiment.”
All in all, the BBC program is a must watch for those studying the Dyatlov Pass incident, as it includes a wealth of previously unpublished stories of individuals who were closely linked to the case, such as Perminova, or who resided in the area after the intriguing event occurred. It also features conversations with contemporary investigators who are still trying to solve the mystery of what happened to the nine hikers in the Ural Mountains that fateful February night so long ago.
