There is a city in Norway whose inhabitants have been forbidden to die for over 70 years. A cruel fate awaits those who fell ill

Residents living in one of the world’s northernmost territories have to follow a strict but strange rule – they are not allowed to die, writes The Mirror.

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In the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, which lies between the Norwegian mainland and the North Pole, is the remote town of Longyearbyen, whose inhabitants have been forbidden to die for 70 years.

It is the northernmost inhabited place in the world. In winter, the temperature there drops from 20 to 30 degrees. Local residents are forced to spend their days in complete darkness. On the other hand, in summer, the sun shines all day long.

The city was founded in 1906. The town of 2,000 residents is mainly coal miners and their families.

Over time, its inhabitants found that, thanks to the cold climate, dead bodies do not decompose. Residents began to fear the spread of disease. This was reinforced by the recent discovery of Spanish flu on the bodies of the dead buried a hundred years ago.

Residents of the city are also worried about possible climate change, because if the “permafrost” thaws, the virus could spread again.

To prevent this, the city is not allowed to die. Instead, people who are likely to die soon are airlifted to the Norwegian mainland.

“The reason is that the permafrost will not only prevent your buried remains from decomposing, but will also perfectly preserve the deadly diseases that the local population would later contract,” said Kristian Meijer of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, explaining the reason for the ban.

“If it looks like you’re going to die soon, every effort will be made to send you to the mainland,” he said.

Since 1950, it has been illegal to bury people in a local cemetery. Although cremation urns are allowed to be buried there, few have taken advantage of this opportunity, and instead the terminally ill have to evacuate the island and spend the rest of their days in Norway.

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