The Khamar Daban Incident 

Things I’ve learned today: Don’t hike alone Don’t hike with friends Don’t hike in Russia Don’t hike..... at all?

What I’ve learned from this and the dyatlov pass incident: Don’t go hiking in Russia

I saw an interview they did with the survivor She claimed that when she was found she was hysterical they had to give her medicine to calm down and also after they all died she hid in her sleeping bag inside her tent and waited till next morning until she finally came out the tent and saw them all dead. She believes they died from pulmonary edema. She said the whole time she felt someone was watching over her while witnessing this horrors. Also korovinas daughter (leader of group) later in a Russian tv interview she said she was payed a lot of money to not ask any questions. No family members were allowed to see there bodies.

All of the symptoms listed are what we’re trained to look for with nerve agents in the U. S. Army. All of them, not one was missing.

The woman bashing her head against the rock might not have necessarily been psychosis. It's really grim to think about but maybe she was just in so much pain that it was an attempt to knock herself out.

There was a whole village in Africa that died overnight, people, goats,dogs,cattle everything dead, except one guy. And it was because of a odorless gas creeping into the village from a near by lake.The one survivor lived because he was afraid of something I can't remember and he slept in the trees. The gases where heavy and only killed at ground level, not that it helps with this mystery, it just made me remember that incident.

It's frustrating that the surviving woman has been treated as untrustworthy by some folks and even thought to have been responsible somehow. She went through enough just being there.

Having survived hypothermia myself, I doubt that story. I was out in -8C freezing rain, not dressed properly and drunk, for 6 hours after dark in January (Canada). I was too frozen to bend when taken to the ambulance and it did take nearly 8hrs to bring my temp back to safe....but I didn't die nor even lose a limb/finger/toe to frost bite....The theory of unsafe food is more likely, or possibly water contamination. Perhaps not Valentina, but another member found something. Or being late Cold War era USSR, perhaps some kinda off the books experimentation/dumping.

Damn. Imagine descending down a snowy mountain alone for three days after watching all your friends die in really gruesome deaths. I imagine nights would be the hardest. You're just sitting there, alone, in the snow, darkness all over you after you just witnessed everyone you were with days ago die. Creepy.

I’m no scientist or detective, but I think the gases make the most sense. There are many factors that could keep her alive, such as her health or time stayed in the area. While her friend did follow her, he could have been more exposed. Plus, while trauma and PTSD is a serious and real thing that can last a long time, part of her current symptoms could be from her slight exposure to the gases. But like I said, that’s just a silly theory.

The fact that there was a survivor makes this even more mysterious

This entire case is incredibly disturbing , but once that poor girl witnessed the other bash her head against the rock that seems to have taken it to a whole other level . How insane it must have been to witness this chaotic incident .

The eyes of the bodies missing is very common with bodies left in the wilderness, as scavenging animals always target the softest tissues first (eyes & tongue). It sounds scary but is actually quite natural!

Simple theory that fits the story: The hikers were eating well the whole time. They could've come across some wild "rosemary" to add some seasoning to their meal. Problem is that wild rosemary looks nearly identical to wild hemlock. If that hemlock were in a shaded area, then a fungus could've been coating it. The symptoms sound like a mixture of hemlock and ergot poisoning, especially the quick death and hallucinations. She survived because she didn't eat as much at their last meal.

A friend of mine has been on big game hunts all over the world. He said the scariest was in the mountains of Kazakhstan, led by the native Kazakh guides. The native mountain guides told them stories around the campfires that made them sleep with one eye open. Especially with the roars and screams of some unknown animals in the forest at night. He said he realized he could disappear, and no one might be left to tell the story.

Oh, this is a well-known incident here, in Russia. Used to live in Ulan-Ude that you mentioned in the video. Personally was in Hamar-Daban. That place is fascinating and creepy at the same time. It's still a mystery what happened back then. But that were obviously not mushrooms. By the way, thank you for this terrifying video, Nick. Love your channel. The moral of the story: don't go hiking in Siberia, especially in the Buryatia republic. There are many riddles over there.

Before my dad went to the forest army or NFA he told me to never go into the woods with out a gun for protection, a flashlight for obviously light, a long book to keep yourself sane and to NOT kill your friends, and a mirror to tell if your friends are real or not

dads back and he has the milk

The frothing of the mouth and bleeding as well as some of the other symptoms they were exhibiting are all signs of a pulmonary edema which can come on very suddenly like it did in this group and which requires immediate medical attention. If not death will occur very quickly. One of the causes of pulmonary edema is traveling to or exercising at high elevations. A few other symptoms are shortness of breath, a feeling of suffocation (which would be why they were grabbing at their throats and tearing off their clothes), wheezing, and a terrible feeling of restlessness and anxiety or that something really bad is going to happen.

"Died of hypothermia." In the words of Mark Hamill's Joker, "YEAH. RIGHT."

The fact that the strongest guy went down first supports the deadly nerve gas theory. Because he would have had the highest tidal volume, his lungs would have breathed in more of the nerve agent first.

Dead body: "had 52 broken bone and unnatural wound" Scientist: *HYPOTHERMIA*

Imagine a serial killer in russia naming himself "hypothermia"

Say Nick , binge watching your videos I had forgotten how much I enjoyed watching your videos. Thank you so much for all of your hard work.

reflexive biting? foaming at the mouth? that my friend sounds like a seizure, wouldn't be surprised if they ingested something they shouldn't have

Your channel keeps giving me reasons to stay tf at home.

I just found your channel and I’m so glad I did. Now I’m binge watching. Love your content!

These mysterious mountain range disappearances/deaths always creep me out.. 🥶😱 Hope you're having a wonderful night Nick, and everyone else reading this 🤍🤍 you've been a huge inspiration to me and my channel the last few months 😌

Man the image of a bunch of people undressing themelsves,bleeding and foaming at the mouth and a lady smashing her head against a rock,all of this happening within a few minutes for no real reason is haunting.

My ancestors always told us when u go to a less traveled place, don't be noisy. Especially deep in the woods.

This incident is actually deserves more attention than Dyatlov. The latter has been sufficiently explained, except for those stubbornly holding onto desperate paranormal theories. But this one really is mysterious.

This is a very good documentary , the quality of the narration is captivating. Keep up your good work, I just had to subscribe……there are so many mysterious events that happen around us …the never ending quest of humans (hikers to be more specific) to see the unseen and know the unknown keeps them going is what I guess…..but I cannot even imagine what that lady went through !!!

The fact that they ALL died in a similar manner, within minutes of each other.. speaks volumes.

What I've learned from Nick Crowley: Never leave your house, and while your in your house have 50 trained and armed professional body guards with checked backgrounds and a personal person who tests all your food while one person goes shopping for food.

Bro, I binge watch your awesome videos as I paint to relax which is veryrare for me to feel. Thank you. I hope I wouldn't runout of your content because this became a routine lol

- They died to a chemical. - The chemical was developed by Soviets. - The chemical causes suffocation and bleeding. - The chemical takes you from being totally healthy to dead in a matter of seconds. That's literally Nova 6 from Black Ops.

*Hikers die horrible deaths* Russia: “Whoops....sorry about that one comrades.”

Bodies: have multiple open wounds and literally no eyes. Morticians: hypothermia

Yo i love the content idk why u haven't hit a mil but u deserve it keep the good work up 💘

Love your Chanel mate. You have a great voice for spooky stuff

This legit freaked me out just the idea of people just dropping dead for what seens no reason is just terrifying to me

Rescue worker Vladimir Zinov proposed that they had suffered from altitude sickness, which happens at heights above 2,000 meters because of oxygen deprivation. They had died at 2,300 meters. The symptoms are weakness, headaches, and vomiting. Another rescue worker, Yuri Golus, says that he knew Korovina well, and that she had practiced techniques of extreme survival with her pupils, which basically meant that they set out with minimal supplies and clothing. Golus was in charge of the rescue operation that found Valentina's group, and he says that the only signs of a meal that they had found at the group's last encampment was one empty tin can. He thinks it's possible that she had been practicing her "extreme techniques" during that hike, which led to malnutrition, and Zinov also says that Korovina was likely trying to make the hike with minimal equipment and supplies. Golus thinks that Valentina survived because she had been constantly chewing roseroot, which is rich in vitamins. The group had collected and dried two bags of it while the weather was still good. It's unclear, however, whether anyone else had been actively eating roseroot; one root had been found in each of their backpacks. Golus's conclusions are supported by the autopsy results: the muscle tissue revealed malnourishment, and the deceased had suffered from pulmonary edema and changes to the heart, kidneys, and liver indicative of protein deficiency, which could be caused by starvation. It should be noted that this is sort of refuted in the recent and only interview with Valentina, who says that they were eating well -- however, she also contradicts her own initial statement by saying she can't remember making food on a kerosene stove, and she has trouble remembering some other details, so it's possible she's misremembering after all these years or doesn't want to make Korovina into a villain. She also says that after Krysin and Korovina collapsed, everyone started panicking and falling down with nosebleeds and foam at the mouth. So we can assume they had all suffered from pulmonary edema brought on by a combination of high altitude, protein deficiency caused by malnutrition, and panic after the initial collapse of Krysin, which would have spiked their blood pressure. The cause of death is ruled as hypothermia, and while some articles mention the state of undress some bodies were found in as a contradiction, this is called paradoxical undressing and is often seen in the final stages of hypothermia.

I just found you and your channel. I am loving the stories

ive watched this video probably over twenty times, def fave video youve made

Bro you make content that’s higher quality than most documentaries 😂

There are several possibilities for a survivor-The main one is that she was possibly downwind from the others, and she didn't get a very good dose of it, or maybe, none at all.

WOW WHAT A STORY,KEEP UP THE GOOD CONTENT MAN!

BEST Channel ever.hello from GREECE!!

The story you're telling is not quite what Valetina said. Let me fully translate: «5th august, 10 am. Alexander Krisin came and said that they got wet and are getting cold. (Unknown where he came to and from. Maybe from a tent to another tent? - author of article). It was snowing, there were no visible orientirs. We took our backpacks and started descending in a formation of a wall. Went about 10 metres, Alexander started falling. We started getting him up. He kept falling again. Korovina (leader) stayed with him. Gave the others a commang to go down. But almost immediatly stopped the group and asked for somebody to get up for her (meaning she wanted to go down herself). Tanya took out the tent and the others covered with it. I got up to Korovina. Alexanders eyes were huge. An indifferent look (probably he had it) . Korovina checked the pulse and said that his heart isnt beating. Asked to take Vika down. I got up to her and she bit me. I forcefully brought her down to others. Tatyana started banging her head against the rocks. Denis hid behind the rocks and got inside his sleeping bag. I crawled to Korovina but she wasnt breathing. Tried to raise Timur up. When i understood that no one is moving, i started descending to the woods. I got dressed and got inside the sleeping bag and covered myself with tent. In the morning i got up, sav Tanya on the rocks, Denis, Timur, Vika. Upper was Korovina and Alex. Nobody else woke up». Sounds a lot more like panic and hysteria when you translate what the girl actually wrote the right way )) pls upvote so that everyone can see?

The government gave an official cause of death to the Dyaltov Pass Incident just recently, though its v controversial

YOU HIT 1M CONGRATULATIONS

I feel like those remote places on Earth like Siberia really hide some terrible secrets. Just by viewing those places on Google Earth I get shivers.

Bizarre story. Since I know Russian, I did some mild reading on it, and sources on this are only coming up recently. Supposedly after it all happened, no one really showed any interest or contacted Valentina about it, so after she was released from the hospital, she just kind of went back to her life, got an education, etc. Everything was wrapped up very quickly, but she was too traumatized to really want to do anything about it or even remember parts of it properly (she was 17 at the time). Didn't even tell her husband, he found out upon seeing a photo of her on the news like, 2 or 3 years back (from one of those unsolved mystery shows). Was kind of heartwarming to see Valentina meet with a father of one of the dead, and all he had to tell her was that he's glad she survived. Valentina hadn't made any contact with the relatives of her dead expedition mates out of survivor's guild. Supposedly she even walked the trail again after all these years, to gain some kind of closure. Interestingly, the daughter of the guide claims to have been approached and paid for her silence, while Valentina hasn't been approached by anyone. There are also some relatives of the survivors that said they tried to look for Valentina, but were consistently mislead about her location. There's also suspicious circumstances surrounding the handling of the deceased bodies. From how long it took for the bodies to be released to the relatives, to their burial. There was no real investigation, no official examination of the bodies. One thing that's certain is that it happened, but I have no real savvy while digging through Russian sources, so who is to say what really happened. Some of the theories that came up in the special about it get wilder by the minute. Watched a 1 hour special on russia.tv: russia.tv/article/show/article_id/62152

This sounds like poisoning by mushrooms.... They all ate together that morning, maybe Val didnt eat as much or she ate something different. She may have not liked mushrooms. Expert Mycologists even have a hard time telling the difference between some types of mushrooms in the field, so they take them and do a spore print to see what they are. This really does sound like poisoning.....

Love chilling out for a loving bedtime with the kids listening to these loving bedtime stories 🛌

There is an urban legend in my country that in such mountains there exist some creatures invsible to the eye, and if you accidentally step on them you get a type of curse. My mom swears that when she was a Sheppard with my aunt they heard loud nonunderstandable noises coming from 2 meters away. My aunt then tried to make a noise like theirs and there was some seconds of silence until the voices were bursting of laughter, which made them both run away scared like hell.

This sounds so much like mushroom toxicity. Many toxic mushrooms cause Disruption to our blood clotting factor...which can cause bleeding from any and all orifices. Types of fungus poisoning also cause the body temperature to rise and affect breathing; sufferers often try to remove anything that could constrict breathing. Also, people often experience extreme skin sensitivity...to the point they can’t handle anything touching the skin. Finally, confusion and delusions, and even heart failure are also common. The only common symptoms not mentioned are the GI symptoms, specifically diarrhea. However, the GI symptoms almost always appear before any others... it’s the body’s initial attempt to rid itself of the toxin. I have no problem believing that a group of people who are not intimately related would not discuss having bowel trouble with each other. This kind of poisoning often takes a few hours to a day or two to appear. I know many will argue the impossibility of this because there was one symptomless survivor who never mentioned eating foraged mushrooms. Maybe she didn’t know. The leader was an expert who may used cooked foraged mushrooms and didn’t think it important to mention. Unfortunately, so many mushrooms look so much alike and grow in the same vicinity that even experts may misidentify them or not realize they have two kinds. Maybe the girl who survived had some kind of food allergy that caused her to avoid eating something the rest of the group all ate...that also had the toxic item in it. Maybe she hated mushrooms so she picked them out while serving herself, unknowingly increasing the amount others might then ingest. Or maybe she did eat it, but just didn’t get many mushrooms in her portion;.the thing about mushroom toxicity (as with most toxins) is the amount ingested not only directly relates to how severe the symptoms are, but also how eminent death becomes. Incidentally, often there is a period of time where mushroom toxicity symptoms appear so improved and sufferers who initially sought treatment appear to feel so well they will be released from hospital. It seems perfectly plausible. If the hikers ate the toxic mushrooms the night before, the next morning the symptoms would start to become more and more severe. As the one person who wasn’t poisoned and had no symptoms, it’s very possible she slept through any disturbances (like having diarrhea or having to vomit) that kept the others up. Not to mention the fact the group as a whole had so many other fish to fry... like escaping a massive snowstorm...they no doubt ignored or downplayed any troubles they believed did not immediately concern their survival...until it was too late. Finally, in regard to the post-mortem, as most of us are people who live in modernized cities with access to advanced testing and professionals who are not only well compensated, but also support finding the truth and the rule of law, with only rare instances of systemic corruption, it is very easy got us to criticize the lack of thoroughness and obvious oversight apparent in the autopsies and final explanation of “what happened”. Thus, I ask you to remember not only were the autopsies done in a fairly remote Siberian city, the time at which the tragedy occurred was the aftermath of an extremely corrupt time in Russian history, and a time where people still lived without as a result of the aforementioned corruption and the the specific nature of communism. People worked with what they had. Under the circumstances and without access to modern technology, death by hypothermia wasn’t a terribly misguided conclusion. People like to give this reason or that reason why a plausible explanation can’t possibly be valid, but I always think horses and never zebras. In this case there are so many unknowns and, as Crowley advises, all we have is a the testimony of a now older woman who was an extremely traumatized teenager at the time of the incident.

In my opinion, the most insane thing about this is that Valentina managed to survive whatever caused this.....

Great content, keep it up!

One of the best channels on the Internet

His voice is weirdly soothing yet creepy as well

Note to self: Never go hiking (avoid mountains) Never go diving Never go camping These days my outdoor adventure is going to grocery store. And I'm happy with that.

Yes the actual cause of death could have been hypothermia, sure that’s what the examiner said. Meaning they must have still been clinging to life as they all lay there, maybe comatose. So they slowly froze to death, But the cause of the chaos, obviously not. More likely nerve gas, very similar symptoms.

I caught that saxophone in the beginning, oh my god. Good choice. I love that subway tune.

You know a story is scary when most commenters admit it rather than making jokes.

Dyatlov “Incident” truly is horrifying. That still sticks with me to this day.

I love the graphic on the merchandise. Well done big dowg

"they'd never make it there" *Ad with a cute dog plays*

Valentina may have survived because she left that area pretty quickly? That specific spot is key. Her getting away from there is probably what saved her.

Jesus christ, that's just a horrible way to go out. The fact that this incident got no media attention is just plain disrespectful to those who died in this incident. A moment of silence for those who passed.

Scary shit man! I'd love to see you do a video on the lost Franklin Expedition one day, the horror those men must have felt, all alone in the arctic circle for years. Going insane and eating each other eventually. + Franklin had almost starved to death in the area years earlier during a land expedition, many creepy details surounding those expeditions.

I have literally never heard of this. This was fascinating.

I'm so happy to see this channel growing so damn fast. I remember watching his randonautica video and seen him at about 200k subs and now he has double that.

Can we talk about how “excited” he sounds for his new merch 😂

Even though I’ve already watched a vid on this, I’ll still watch it

Whew! Way too hot for a hoodie right now, Nick, maybe when winter comes? It’s 110 - 118ºF daily here in AZ right now & I can’t even look at you IN the hoodie without sweating profusely! This was an interesting video, thank you very much! Subbed & I look forward to more like this!

Has anyone considered that this could potentially be the best murder case where Valentina is the murderer and she has faked her testimonies.

"turning insane" no nick, they were DYING.

You where one of the first to cover this on yt that's why I follow you

Hear me out: it was the same gas used in that incident where like 170 people were killed in the Chechen hostage crisis accidentally - it wasn't released in the immediate tourist area, but the storm blew it in and the particulates got mixed in with the snow and air vapor.

this is something that will definitely stay with the woman who had survived, her entire life. like.. I can't just imagine how hard it must have been. I just watched this 18min video and I am already shaken down to my core.. what more for her?

when a person dies outside, scavengers go for soft parts first... eyes, nose and mouth are always eaten away first, so nothing spooky about that... other than a dead body with a bunch of holes in that face that is... god bless those folk and I'll add them to a prayer... i never heard this one so nice find. always refreshing to hear new stuff on youtube; its a rarity unfortunately...

I can't imagine see my friends lye there dead, or dying/ losing there minds and lifes. Me and my only live friend would hug each other and cry silently in each other's arms.

i'm russian and i've checked wikipedia article on this topic. so, experts suggested that it was rather infrasound created by the lee waves or sulphuric acid fumes poisoning that would be transfered to Buryatia from chinese factories. and also considering that the man who knew Korovina said that she practiced the "survival school" for teenagers with minimal amount of equipment and food AND she herself in her own notebook wrote that for each person there should've been given 510 grams of food in a day, it's believed that her mistakes led to this tragedy. thank you for the video though, it's always extremely interesting to follow! :)

Extract of Russian documentary: **starts playing** Me, a Russian Siberian: I like your familiar words, magic man

The poison theory seems, by far, the most plausible explanation to me. Human error trips up even the experts from time to time and the fact that she was an expert likely would have kept anyone from questioning the safety of any foraged ingredient. The fact that one girl survived can easily be explained away by biology. People inexplicably survive lethal toxins all the time. Every body is different and reacts to things slightly uniquely. This explains why each person seemed to succumb to the effect at different times and severities. It also explains why the girl was so messed up in the aftermath. Surviving a toxin often results in serious long term issues regardless. Anyway, that’s just what makes the most sense to me.

Thanks for the upload brother (algorithm comment)

ok i know it´s a serious story but "internationally renown master in pedestrian tourism" had my lying on the floor

The fact that there’s barely any documents on this case is very strange indeed...

You didn’t mention that the women’s testimony may be inaccurate. People who have been through traumatic events have been known to wildly miss remember them as a coping mechanism. Its possible that after 3 days in the wilderness the events she remembers in her head are completely different from the events as they actually happened.

You’re videos are just like the perfect length too

this honestly looked like what those horror movies endings are in real life, where theres only one traumatized survivor.

I was born and grew up in southern Siberia (Novosibirsk), and my family would occasionally take a day trip with this other family out cross-country skiing to a cabin in the woods and then back. We'd take a train out to a remote station and ski on from there. It wasn't extreme like camping; the trip would only be a few hours there and then back, and we never spent the night out. But reading about these mysterious incidents for hikers out in the same parts of the world where I have been...makes me terrified we ever did that to begin with!

Hey Crowley there’s this flight that had the black boxes destroyed in the crash Malév flight 240 a tu-154 that crashed on September 30 1975 The TU-154 crashed into the medatarrain sea killing all 60 people on bored witch is strange because the TU-154 can carry up to 180 passengers And something that is strange is that unlike eastern airlines flight 980 Malév flight 240 still does not have a cause of why it crashed So can you please cover this obscure plane crash

That Crowley mug is badass.

Absolutely incredible research! I watch hours and hours of TV shows that have mystery, mahem, and Murder. But I can honestly say I've never heard or watched anything that you put out to us, an incredible channel that wouldn't be outta place on Discovery Plus

I'm happy this channel exists i know it just recently got noticed but as a fan of horror I was waiting for a channel like this.

Everybody gangsta till Nick uploads. Then we even more gangsta.

I really really wanna see your take on the khamar daban incident. It's pretty wild

I don't normally like to go for the "SeCrEt GoVeRnMeNt CONSPIRAACCYYYY!!!!" answers in cases like this or Dyatlov Pass, but in this case I think I have to. A chemical weapon explains all the symptoms, as well as the sudden onset and the fact that it seemed to be location-specific. Remember that the ones who had left were fine, until they returned to the location. As to how Valentina survived, my immediate thought is that, well, not all chemical weapons are gaseous. If it was a liquid, and was absorbed through the skin, then it could be as simple as Valentina wearing her gloves while the others weren't. Perhaps the first guy had taken his gloves off for whatever reason, and touched a rock that had the agent on it. Then Lyudmilla took her own gloves off to help tend to him, now she's got it on _her_ skin, etc. I'll add that clearly the area couldn't have been _that_ popular, if it took two weeks for the bodies to be found.