Zinc coffins

[GlennM]

We understand from the case files that without zinc coffins, the deceased were not going to be flown out. I investigated a bit further and came to understand that zinc as a material is effective in delaying decay of a cadaver and it allows a typically wooden coffin to be hermetically sealed.
The record shows that the deceased were frozen solid and sewed into tarpaulins for aerial transport. They were later to be thawed and forensically examined.

It occurs to me that sealing a body in a zinc coffin only to open it up again might ruin the integrity of the coffin. Secondly, the zinc coffin was not specifically required for any suspected radiation contamination. Third. a zinc coffin is used for people of some importance.

From this I conclude that there could be no surreptitious pre-flight re-dressing hard frozen corpses. Secondly, they were frozen and sewed so there was no real concern of a communicable disease escaping. Third, the DP9 were considered worth the expense and effort to be transported in something better than a utilitarian wooden casket, even though obtaining them was an inconvenience and a government expense.

I do not support the idea that using a zinc casket was a ploy to hide evidence of assassin's work. Far to many rescuers saw what they say, carried what they carried, and talked as they wished.

The DP9 (not 10 or 11) died by natural causes and moved in a military fashion which owing to the zinc caskets was not particularly expedient..

[Axelrod]

I think there were no zinc coffins. There were simple wooden coffins. Zoltarev's exhumation confirmed this.
Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondents arrived at the cemetery with a hacksaw for metal, but no metal was found in the grave.

[KathleenDSmith1]

Everyone and Teddy :

I found it .... copy and paste:  https://dyatlovpass.com/the-den


This is a scandal! I and fourteen other people brought these bodies on our shoulders and they refused to take the bodies in spite of me insisting. As a Communist I am outraged by the behavior of the crew and ask you to inform the Communist Party leader about it. And I have to mention to you for clarity, these bodies are frozen.

We packed them for transportation and there was no reason to refuse to take them. The medical expert refused to examine or to cut the bodies here on site. It is absolutely not dangerous from the point of hygiene. They are folded and covered in special impervious material. The crew said they would not transport them until they are in Zinc coffins.

At this point Colonel Ortyukov reached the limits of his desperation. He took out his pistol and threatened the crew. Vladimir Askinadzi intervened, after which the medical expert reorganized how the bodies should be packed for transportation, and they were finally airlifted for transportation to Ivdel.


Thanks
Kathleen D. Smith

[GlennM]

My point is that because the ravine 4 bodies were witnessed by no less than 14 people and frozen solid, there was no way the remains could be tampered with as they were transported off 1079. When they were examined later, they bore the physical marks of exposure and injuries. The idea of infighting is always brought up,  but when considering the proximities and postures of the deceased plus what they were wearing, for me it points to cooperation, not alienation. Murder? It would have been sloppy and ineffectual. A blast? There was none. On the other hand, they had knives and matches. But against snow, wind and cold and a likely snow cave collapse in the ravine, they were insufficient.

The helicopter pilot seems to be a " by the book" type of person. It is safe, if not a bit bloodless. We know there was pressure to wind up the case and be done with it. I do not think this was to cover up misdeeds, rather it was because of the amount of time passed between finding the first and last hiker. The pressure to conclude activities is likely more about cold weather, mourning families and getting back to work. Soviet national politics, not so much.

[Hunter]

Zinc coffins could be used to transport the bodies. And the last four could be buried in closed coffins. That is, in the morgue, they nail the coffin lid shut right away. The bodies themselves could be sprinkled with bleach to eliminate the smell. I read instructions on organizing the burial of bodies that have decomposed or have dangerous diseases.
In this case, the coffin could be lined with oilcloth from the inside, and the bodies themselves could be treated with disinfectant. Zinc coffins were used to transport bodies for subsequent burial over long distances. That is, when a person died in one end of the country (or abroad), and needed to be buried in another.

[Hunter]

Judging by the exhumation of Zolotarev, the last four were buried in ordinary coffins. Only in the morgue the lid of the coffin was nailed down, and not in the cemetery, as was usually done then.

[sarapuk]

We understand from the case files that without zinc coffins, the deceased were not going to be flown out. I investigated a bit further and came to understand that zinc as a material is effective in delaying decay of a cadaver and it allows a typically wooden coffin to be hermetically sealed.
The record shows that the deceased were frozen solid and sewed into tarpaulins for aerial transport. They were later to be thawed and forensically examined.

It occurs to me that sealing a body in a zinc coffin only to open it up again might ruin the integrity of the coffin. Secondly, the zinc coffin was not specifically required for any suspected radiation contamination. Third. a zinc coffin is used for people of some importance.

From this I conclude that there could be no surreptitious pre-flight re-dressing hard frozen corpses. Secondly, they were frozen and sewed so there was no real concern of a communicable disease escaping. Third, the DP9 were considered worth the expense and effort to be transported in something better than a utilitarian wooden casket, even though obtaining them was an inconvenience and a government expense.

I do not support the idea that using a zinc casket was a ploy to hide evidence of assassin's work. Far to many rescuers saw what they say, carried what they carried, and talked as they wished.

The DP9 (not 10 or 11) died by natural causes and moved in a military fashion which owing to the zinc caskets was not particularly expedient..

The fact that Geiger counters were used during the search must raise the question of radioactivity. And thus the use of zinc coffins.

[Ziljoe]

We understand from the case files that without zinc coffins, the deceased were not going to be flown out. I investigated a bit further and came to understand that zinc as a material is effective in delaying decay of a cadaver and it allows a typically wooden coffin to be hermetically sealed.
The record shows that the deceased were frozen solid and sewed into tarpaulins for aerial transport. They were later to be thawed and forensically examined.

It occurs to me that sealing a body in a zinc coffin only to open it up again might ruin the integrity of the coffin. Secondly, the zinc coffin was not specifically required for any suspected radiation contamination. Third. a zinc coffin is used for people of some importance.

From this I conclude that there could be no surreptitious pre-flight re-dressing hard frozen corpses. Secondly, they were frozen and sewed so there was no real concern of a communicable disease escaping. Third, the DP9 were considered worth the expense and effort to be transported in something better than a utilitarian wooden casket, even though obtaining them was an inconvenience and a government expense.

I do not support the idea that using a zinc casket was a ploy to hide evidence of assassin's work. Far to many rescuers saw what they say, carried what they carried, and talked as they wished.

The DP9 (not 10 or 11) died by natural causes and moved in a military fashion which owing to the zinc caskets was not particularly expedient..

The fact that Geiger counters were used during the search must raise the question of radioactivity. And thus the use of zinc coffins.

As far as I recollect, the instrument that was used on the slope was said to be a dosimeter or so it was stated by one of the searchers in a much later/post interview. This measures the exposure to potential radiation.

The fact that no one was pulled away from the search or the search cancelled suggests there was no radiation to be concerned about over that 3 months.

This might have just been a standard measure for the environment given the previous nuclear accidents , it may just have been an opportunity to check whilst they were there on the ground. Saying that , I don't think there's any mention of a Geiger counter until after the bodies are returned and the clothes separated from the ravine 4 .

Again , many years later some author states that a lawyer said that the order was given by ivanov ( I think) to test the clothes because they were "glowing" in some room. I don't think clothes "glow" with radiation , that's stuff of cartoons not reality.

I wrote a piece about Zinc coffins a while back, from what I can remember, zinc coffins were standard at the time for a number of quite boring reasons and the moving of bodies in flight. There was reasonable debate given for why the pilots didn't want to take the bodies , none involved radiation as a reason and no body knew of the radiation on the clothes because that was recorded after they had been transported and not before. The bodies were also going to be potentially checked at the location I think but this was stopped for some other practical reason , the weather if I remember.

I could be wrong on a couple of things but even the reporting of the radiation readings halving after the clothes had been washed makes little sense as they were lying in running water for a number of weeks.

It is clear Ivanov was well down the road of lights in the sky, burns on trees , rockets etc from his own speculation and belief as to what happened. We can argue he was on to something or perhaps muddied the waters from his own imagination, rightly or wrongly.

However, we can explain the lights that were reported as remote missile tests , the burns on trees as natural wind burn  that he did not understand. As for the glowing clothes , there was a chemical that could be applied to the clothing so it can show up blood under certain light conditions, I wonder if this was used and he again misunderstood what was being done, it's either that or the glowing clothes story is just another fabrication to get people interested and to sell books of mystery.

[Hunter]

The pilots didn't want to transport the bodies without proper packaging, as it would be difficult to clean the smell off the helicopter. That's why they required zinc boxes. The bodies were buried in regular coffins, only they were nailed shut at the morgue, not at the cemetery. I imagine it's the same here, if the deceased is disfigured and the makeup artists can't handle it, the farewell ceremony takes place with the body sealed behind a closed casket.

They could have used the device to search for bodies, knowing that some of the victims were working at the "mailbox" and could have received a dose of radiation. Plus, one of the radiograms asked if there was a device for finding bodies.