As time passed, the relatives, concerned about the lack of information, began to contact all sorts of institutions en masse, including the Ural Polytechnical Institute. Initially, the pleading of families to organize a rescue expedition was addressed reluctantly. Some of the families were informed that Dyatlov had sent a telegram and the group was safe and sound. However, it soon became clear that the telegram had been sent by members of different expeditions.
It is suspected that only a desperate phone call by Alexander Kolevatov's sister to Institute 3394 in Moscow brought everyone to their feet. It was feared that the group may have encountered foreign spies, and that information held by Kolevatov and two employees of the Mayak Combine may have fallen into the hands of foreign intelligence.
The Kyshtym accident was the first of its kind, and foreign intelligence, especially the CIA, would have had a vested interest in gaining knowledge of it.
