Frozen to death on the Road of Bones: Russian teen motorist dies in his car after a week spent stranded at MINUS 50 degrees

A young Russian has frozen to death in his car in the notoriously cold Yakutia region, after getting lost while driving in extreme temperatures.

Following a week-long search, the 18-year-old was found dead. Incredibly, his friend and companion survived. According to the region’s investigative committee, the temperature in this area at night is around -50°C, and the car’s radiator was broken. The two teenagers started driving from Yakutsk to Magadan on November 28 and were not found until December 5. The only road between these cities is the Kolyma Highway, most commonly known as the Road of Bones. The route was built using forced Gulag labor, and construction caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands of prisoners, according to different sources.

As there is only one way to get between these cities, it is unclear how the two 18-year-olds turned away from the main route and got lost, but they were located on a now-abandoned highway.

Their vehicle, an old Toyota Chaser, was found 120km away from the nearest settlement. The surviving man was found with signs of frostbite and has been taken to a hospital in the Oymyakon district. He is said to be in serious condition.

Oymyakon is world-famous for being the coldest permanently inhabited settlement on Earth, with the mercury often dropping below -60°C. The deceased has been named by local media as Sergey Ustinov. Both men were born in Magadan.

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