YEKATERINBURG, February 28. /TASS/. A tourist has gone missing during an expedition to the notorious Dyatlov pass on the northern Urals, a local police spokesman told TASS on Wednesday.

According to him, the 49-year old man left for the expedition on February 11. The search and rescue operation will start in the nearest future, the spokesman added.

The mountain pass was named after Sergei Dyatlov, the head of the 1959 expedition, which planned to ascend to the 1,079-meter summit in the Sub-Arctic Urals. Dyatlov and the other eight members of his group died at the pass near Otorten Mountain during the early morning hours of February 2, 1959 under mysterious circumstances. The expedition members were found frozen to death with injuries and without outdoor clothes or footwear. Eventually, dozens of versions arose as to what happened at the mountain pass, including completely bizarre theories of an attack by an abominable snowman or an encounter with aliens.

The Dyatlov Pass remains an attraction for tourists and researchers from all over the world. Every year, rescuers have to search for tourists who get lost at the site of the tragedy.