Russia re-opening investigation into Dyatlov Pass incident (remote skiers killed)

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Russian prosecutors have launched a new investigation into the mysterious case of nine students who died in bizarre circumstances after disappearing on a skiing trip 60 years ago.

The seven men and two women set off on the ski trip on January 23, 1959. Their 16-day itinerary aimed to cover 190 miles and cross the North Ural mountains: Otorten and Kholat Syakhl. A search operation was launched on February 20, and six days later the students' tent, which had been sliced open, was discovered. The following day the bodies of Yuri Doroshenko and Yuri Krivonischenko were found just over a mile away. Lying by a campfire, they were both stripped to their underwear.

In the days that followed, three more of the skiers were dug up, including Dyatlov, while the remaining four were only found in May once the snow had melted.

A criminal case was opened but it was closed three months later having concluded that the "spontaneous power of nature" was to blame.

Some 75 theories have been put forward, according to the prosecutor's office -- including an alien abduction. Another suggests they were killed by members of the Mansi people, for whom the mountains were spiritually symbolic. Still others claimed the scene was staged in order to cover up details of a secret weapons testing program.

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