The town where dying is ILLEGAL: Remote Arctic islands are so cold bodies won't decompose and experts fears graveyards still harbour the deadly 1918 Spanish Flu virus

  • Longyearbyen is a coal-mining town in the remote Svalbard chain of islands
  • It is one of the world’s northernmost inhabited areas with a population of 2,000  
  • The ground is covered in permafrost which prevents bodies from decomposing
  • Norwegian authorities brought in the strange statute in 1950 after the discovery 

In one of the world’s northernmost inhabited areas, permafrost prevents the dead from decomposing.

To prevent disease from spreading, authorities have had to ban people from dying in the town.

But this strange settlement, known as Longyearbyen, could prove useful to scientists.  

Its graveyard contains the remains of a number of victims of the deadly Spanish Flu that killed as many as 100 million people worldwide in 1918.

Samples of the Spanish Flu virus have been extracted from some of the bodies so researchers can study the disease in an attempt to prevent a similar outbreak.

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It may seem like an odd law for a town plagued by polar bear attacks, but officials have placed a ban on dying on an island in the Arctic circle. In one of the world’s northernmost inhabited areas, the ground is covered in permafrost which prevents bodies from decomposing

It may seem like an odd law for a town plagued by polar bear attacks, but officials have placed a ban on dying on an island in the Arctic circle. In one of the world’s northernmost inhabited areas, the ground is covered in permafrost which prevents bodies from decomposing

Longyearbyen is a coal-mining town in the remote Svalbard chain of islands with a population of around 2,000 residents.  

Situated north of mainland Europe, Svalbard is about halfway between continental Norway and the North Pole, 620 miles (1,000 km) to the north.

Average temperatures in February are -17°C (1.4°F), although they have been known to plummet to as low as -46.3°C (-51.3°F) around this time of year.

The Norwegian archipelago brought in the strange statute in 1950, when it was discovered that bodies buried beneath the freezing dirt were not rotting, according to a new report by Half as Interesting. 

This presents a serious risk to residents, as 11 people died and were buried in the town during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. 

The true global mortality rate from the pandemic is not known, but an estimated 10 per cent to 20 per cent of those who were infected died. 

This would lead to a death toll of between 50 to 100 million people. 

Researchers have since conducted a study on the permafrost phenomenon that preserves the corpses in the graveyard. 

Situated north of mainland Europe, Svalbard is about halfway between continental Norway and the North Pole, 620 miles (1,000 km) to the north. This image shows tourists riding sleds outside the town

Situated north of mainland Europe, Svalbard is about halfway between continental Norway and the North Pole, 620 miles (1,000 km) to the north. This image shows tourists riding sleds outside the town

Concerned over the spread of disease, authorities brought in a law banning residents from shuffling off this mortal coil while on the archipelago. A road sign sporting a polar bear notifies motorists of their presence in the region

Concerned over the spread of disease, authorities brought in a law banning residents from shuffling off this mortal coil while on the archipelago. A road sign sporting a polar bear notifies motorists of their presence in the region

Average temperatures in February are -17°C (1.4°F), although they have been known to plummet to as low as -46.3°C (-51.3°F) around this time of year. This image shows colourful huts outside the town

Average temperatures in February are -17°C (1.4°F), although they have been known to plummet to as low as -46.3°C (-51.3°F) around this time of year. This image shows colourful huts outside the town

In August 1998, 80 years after the Spanish flu pandemic swept the world, Dr. Kirsty Duncan of the University of Windsor lead a team of scientists to the region.

They examined tissue from a person who died in the town, and found that his body had preserved the Influenza virus since his death from Spanish Flu.

Explaining the law in 2017, Jan Christian Meyer, from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, in Trondheim, said: 'In Svalbard, Norway, there is a ban on dying.

‘The reason for this is that the permanently frozen ground will not only tend to keep your buried remains from decomposing and push them to the surface.

‘It may also perfectly preserve the disease that killed you, for locals to pick up later. 

‘If you seem to be about to expire, every effort will be made to send you to the mainland. 

The Norwegian archipelago brought in the strange statute in 1950, when it was discovered that bodies buried beneath the freezing dirt were not rotting. This image shows the town centre

The Norwegian archipelago brought in the strange statute in 1950, when it was discovered that bodies buried beneath the freezing dirt were not rotting. This image shows the town centre

The permafrost effect presents a serious risk to residents, as 11 people died and were buried in the town during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. This image shows the town's harbour

The permafrost effect presents a serious risk to residents, as 11 people died and were buried in the town during the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918. This image shows the town's harbour

Researchers have since conducted a study on the permafrost phenomenon that preserves the corpses in the graveyard. They found that a body they examine had preserved the Influenza virus since his death from Spanish Flu. This image shows mountains outside the town

Researchers have since conducted a study on the permafrost phenomenon that preserves the corpses in the graveyard. They found that a body they examine had preserved the Influenza virus since his death from Spanish Flu. This image shows mountains outside the town

‘If you should die there anyway, you most certainly will not be buried there, because funerals don't work the way they are supposed to.

'You can apply to have your cremated remains put into the ground, but it requires state approval.' 

Death is an ever-present risk on the islands.

In February 2017, four adults and two children were inside a house when an avalanche hit, knocking the building off its foundations.

Thankfully they escaped, but two years previously two people were killed in an avalanche in the same area. 

Polar bears are also said to attack people on sight and residents are only allowed to shoot them in self-defence.

Longyearbyen is a coal-mining town in the remote Svalbard chain of islands with a population of around 2,000 residents

Longyearbyen is a coal-mining town in the remote Svalbard chain of islands with a population of around 2,000 residents

WHAT WAS SPANISH FLU?

The 1918 flu pandemic was unusually deadly and the first of two involving the H1N1 influenza virus.

It infected 500 million people globally, more than one-third of the world's population, including people on remote Pacific islands and in the Arctic.

It resulted in the deaths of an estimated three to five per cent of the world's population, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history.

Spanish Flu resulted in the deaths of an estimated three to five per cent of the world's population, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history. This image shows soldiers from Fort Riley, Kansas, ill with the virus

Spanish Flu resulted in the deaths of an estimated three to five per cent of the world's population, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in human history. This image shows soldiers from Fort Riley, Kansas, ill with the virus

Within months it had killed three times as many as World War I and did it more quickly than any other illness in recorded history.

Most influenza outbreaks disproportionately kill juvenile, elderly, or already weakened patients. By contrast, the 1918 pandemic predominantly killed previously healthy young adults.

To maintain morale, wartime censors minimised early reports of illness and mortality in Germany, Britain, France, and the United States. However, newspapers were free to report the epidemic's effects in Spain.

This created a false impression of Spain as being especially hard hit, leading to the pandemic's nickname Spanish flu.

The close quarters and massive troop movements of World War I hastened the pandemic and probably both increased transmission and augmented mutation, researchers believe.

The true global mortality rate from the pandemic is not known, but an estimated 10 per cent to 20 per cent of those who were infected died. This would lead to a death toll of between 50 to 100 million people.

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