Russia finds ‘bone path’ on Siberian highway

A “bone path” has been found in Siberia, where authorities have launched an investigation into how human skulls and other remains appeared on a frozen highway near Irkutsk.

The remains, which may be a century old, were buried in the sand spread on local roads to improve traction on black ice. So far, the bones of at least three people have been found, an official in the city of Kirensk told Russian state television that they could be the date of Russia’s 1917-22 civil war.

Photographs of the static remains first surfaced on social media, where locals argued that the bones came from a nearby cemetery or that there was chaos or that it was used as a mass grave.

“Skeleton and bone sand are scattered on the roads in Kirensk,” wrote Nicole Trufanov, a local MLA from the ruling United. Russia Party in a Facebook post.

“According to preliminary information, utility workers were taking sand from the area near the cemetery. Can’t even describe how monster he is. He said he hoped those responsible would be punished.

Human remains are occasionally found during construction and road work in Russia, mainly near World War II sites in the west of the country. The remains of at least 10 people suspected of being Red Army soldiers were found in 2014 during the construction of a local highway in the Kursk region. In 2018, construction workers in neighboring Latvia found human remains, which led to the discovery of about 150 bodies.

The discovery in Siberia was compared to the famous Kolima Highway, a 1,250-mile route from near Yakutsk to Magadan that was built under Stalin using Gulag labor. The highway has been nicknamed the “Bone Road” for the 250,000 people built in the remote road building.

Bones found in Kirensk have been collected and road work has stopped, Russian media reported. Investigators suspect the local contractor of failing to collect sand from near the burial plot and inspect it before spreading it on the road.