All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S08E04.Plague.On.Hell.Island.1080p.DISC.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-DoGSO_track3_[eng]

[narrator]
A covert Pacific site

claims the lives
of thousands of
U.S. Marines.

[Lynette]
They were angry

and they were
fighting

harder than
they'd ever
fought before.

[narrator]
A weapon of war

turns into a vital
center of healing.

[Alicia] This place
was armed
and prepared

for a sea battle,

but it ended up
fighting a very
different war.

[narrator] And
an imperialist prison

becomes a hotbed
of revolution.

becomes a hotbed
of revolution.

[Sascha]
Getting sent here

was a perfect
opportunity

for a young
communist activist.

[narrator]
Decaying relics...

ruins of
lost worlds...

sites haunted
by the past...

their secrets
waiting to
be revealed.

[narrator] Peleliu,

a tiny island
in the western
Pacific,

its tranquility
at odds with
a hostile history.

It's this beautiful
coral island...

covered in
jungle palms.

[narrator] But
the creeping vegetation

conceals remnants
of an ominous
infrastructure.

[Lynette]
There's even now...

the debris
of warfare.

Tanks,
amphibious tractors,

guns and gun
emplacements.

[Geoff]
You notice that

what looks to
be an airstrip,

has been carved
out of the jungle.

[narrator]
And below ground,
there's more.

[Dougal] A closer
look reveals

quite a lot of
ravines and hollows,

almost dotted
with caves.

[Lynette]
And in them,
you can see

[Lynette]
And in them,
you can see

evidence of
past occupation,

the archaeology
of war.

This place was
known for a time as
"hell on earth".

[narrator]
Des Matsutaro
is a local historian,

whose ancestors
witnessed

the destruction
unleashed here.

[Des] This island
was devastated
beyond...

[Des] This island
was devastated
beyond...

any one of
my people's
imagination,

'cause we've
never seen
destruction like this

in our lives.

[narrator]
The airstrip

cutting through
the heart of
this island

is the first clue
to what went
on here.

[Dougal]
Here, we've got
an island

that's relatively
low in form

and it has
some areas

which are flat
enough to construct
an airfield.

And so,
it became a very
strategic point

in this part
of the Pacific.

[narrator] Next
to the airfield,

one ruin
stands out.

one ruin
stands out.

It looks like
some kind of
control center.

But it wasn't
the local people

running the
operation here.

[Geoff]
There's a headquarters
building

very much in
the Japanese
imperial style,

very grand in size.

Clearly, this was
a place that was
going to harbor

a lot of
Japanese naval

and military
personnel.

[Des] Not only was it
a place for them
to do their work,

there was areas
of a living quarters
that they had here.

This building also
has a nerve center,

where
the high-ranking
officials

had their top secret
and sensitive
materials inside.

[narrator]
These scarred
remains date back

to the Second
World War.

By 1944,

the U.S. Marines
were fighting
their way

through the Japanese
controlled islands

in the western
Pacific.

Peleliu was
their next target.

They're just like,
"Well, it's probably
gonna be easy,

so let's just do it."

[Lynette]
They assumed
that the Japanese

would do
the same thing
they always did

and try to
stop invaders
on the beach.

[narrator]
But this time,

the Japanese
island defense
would be different.

0830,
September 15th...

the Marines
begin the agonizingly
slow journey

the Marines
begin the agonizingly
slow journey

towards the beach
in amphibious
vehicles.

[Des] We're at
Orange Beach,

where the
American began

their invasion
onto this island.

It was highly
defended

due to the fact
that this beach

is actually the
shortest distance

between the water
and the actual runway,

which was
the main objective.

[narrator]
By the end of
the first day,

the U.S. Marines
had taken the
landing beaches.

the U.S. Marines
had taken the
landing beaches.

But it took
a further week of
fierce fighting

in unbearable
temperatures

to secure
the airfield.

So, we've got two
American rounds

that were
lodged into this
column here.

You could see
by the trajectory
where it went in.

It came from
my left side

and that's where
the landing beaches
are at.

So, it does show,
the advancements
and the movements

of American
forces coming

of American
forces coming

further into
Peleliu island.

[Lynette] The 1st
Marine Division...

managed to take...

the airfield on
Peleliu Island

comparatively quickly.

[narrator]
It appeared that
victory was in sight.

But aerial
intelligence

collected before
the invasion

had failed to spot
a key detail.

[Dougal] Part of
the problem
with identifying

a lot of the features
of the island
from above

is when you have
thick vegetation,

you can hide
sheer cliffs,

you can hide
quite a lot of
the topography

under a blanket
of green.

[narrator]
And the Japanese
defenders

had made the most
of Peleliu's
hidden geography.

[Dougal]
It's made out of
predominantly

ancient coral
reef limestone

that dissolves
into caves

and natural
ravines.

and natural
ravines.

And actually,
it's quite
a soft rock.

You can actually
build your
own defenses

into the mountain.

[narrator]
It had been
impossible

for U.S.
intelligence to
identify the extent

of the massive
Japanese defense
network

hidden below ground.

[Des] These cave site
that we have
here in Peleliu...

there's about
300 to 400 of them.

They took
about ten months
to develop

and construct
these caves.

Many of the caves
were also dug out

Many of the caves
were also dug out

by local labor
as well.

Prior to
the invasion,

the Japanese
had evacuated

all the local men
off this island.

And due to
the fact that

they didn't want
any of the local men

to go over to
the U.S. side,

and reveal
the locations of
these caves.

[narrator]
The Japanese
could control

the entire defense
of Peleliu

from below ground.

[Des] The Japanese
were hunkered in
within this ridge.

Many Japanese men
had lived and stayed,

Many Japanese men
had lived and stayed,

uh, in these caves,

very harsh
conditions.

Some of these caves

were small enough
for one person,

his gear
and some supplies.

Many Americans
called that
a sniper cave,

or a foxhole.

Other caves
are actually
much bigger,

and they would
connect with
other caves

and interlock
and form a network
of caves,

up to a dozen
or so entrances.

[narrator] And
without knowing

[narrator] And
without knowing

where the caves
were located,

the U.S. Marines
were walking into
a death trap.

[narrator]
By late 1944,

the U.S.
Marine Corps
had taken

the Japanese
controlled airfield

on the remote
Pacific Island
of Peleliu.

But the Japanese
commander,

Colonel
Kunio Nakagawa,

was not about
to give up
without a fight.

He had strategically
hidden his men

in an intricate
defense system

in an intricate
defense system

built into
the island's
high ground.

[Geoff]
The Marines
get ashore,

take the airstrip,

but then they're
pounded from
this central height,

this big, massive
that overlooks
the island.

[Lynette]
The Japanese defense
was designed

to pound
fire down...

into preregistered
positions

where they knew
the Americans

would have
to come.

[narrator]
To fully control
Peleliu,

the U.S. Marines
needed to take
the high ground.

the U.S. Marines
needed to take
the high ground.

[Lynette]
The Americans
called that

Bloody Nose Ridge...

'cause the 1st
Marine Division...

they went up there
and they got
a bloody nose.

[Geoff]
The battle for
Bloody Nose Ridge

was just
absolutely
ferocious.

For the Marines,

it was having
to fight this
deadly adversary

that had essentially
entombed himself

inside this
cliff base.

And he had to
be dug out,

And he had to
be dug out,

and he was not
gonna surrender.

[Lynette] What it
came down to

was grunts
with rifles,

mortars and guns.

[narrator] Peleliu's
network of caves
and tunnels

meant that
the Marines

could never
be sure where
the enemy was.

[Geoff] American
soldiers would be

running up
an American flag,

and then they
would smell...

Japanese
rice cookers

underneath them

underneath them

as the Japanese
were still installed

in these
fortified caverns
under their feet.

[narrator]
After nearly
two months

of grinding
their way

up Bloody
Nose Ridge...

the U.S. forces were
finally closing in
on victory.

[Geoff] The Japanese
commander
on the island

transmits
a last message
to Tokyo saying,

you know,
"All is lost,

the island
has fallen".

And then,
he and his staff
commit suicide.

[Des] This is where
they found the body

of Colonel
Kunio Nakagawa.

When the Americans
came to this part
of the island

and found his body,

that's when
they declared

the battle of
Peleliu over.

[narrator]
But for some,

the conflict
was not done.

[Lynette] Two years

after World War Two
was over,

a Japanese
official

had to come
to Peleliu...

had to come
to Peleliu...

to prove to...

the remaining
Japanese soldiers

that the war
was really over,

that they could
put their guns down
and go home.

[narrator]
More than 12,000

U.S. and
Japanese soldiers

lost their lives
in the ferocious
battle for Peleliu...

and many more
were injured.

[Geoff] After the war,
the Americans
calculated that,

so good were
the Japanese
defenses,

that it took
1,500 rounds
of bullets,

grenades
or artillery

to kill a single
Japanese defender.

[narrator] And
when the locals

returned
to the island...

it was
unrecognizable.

[Des] My people
were asked by
the Americans

to bring in fruits
and vegetables
to replant here,

bring back coconuts,
bring back papayas,

bring back coconuts,
bring back papayas,

bring back bananas
to replant

because
the island was...

[vocalizes bombing]
...flattened.

[narrator]
In the icy waters

that surround
St. Petersburg,
Russia,

is a marooned,
oddly shaped
structure.

[Rob] It's got
two long sides

that are both
rounded off
at the end.

that are both
rounded off
at the end.

It looks a bit
like a kidney
bean in shape.

[Sascha] It's made
of solid brick
and concrete,

and the outside
is an ominous black.

[narrator]
But inside,
it's a work of art.

[Rob] There's this
steel staircase
that's rusting away,

but it's
exquisitely
formed.

This place
was not built
in a hurry,

and it wasn't built
on a budget either.

[narrator]
Further in,

things take
a chilling turn.

things take
a chilling turn.

[Alicia] The inside
of this building
is empty,

almost as if
it's been stripped
or sterilized.

[narrator]
This imposing
structure

is designed
to intimidate.

But it's what
the eye can't see

that holds
the secrets
of this site.

[Alicia] This place
was armed
and prepared

for a sea battle,

but it ended up
fighting a very
different war.

[narrator] So,
how did this
sterile shell

come to save lives
instead of
taking them?

come to save lives
instead of
taking them?

[narrator] Russian
archaeologist

Sergey Solovyev

heads out
to explore

an eerie
fortification

that dates back
almost 200 years.

[Sergey] At the start
of the 19th century,

they needed to
create modern
defensive structures

to protect
St. Petersburg.

to protect
St. Petersburg.

[narrator]
The deep waters of
the Gulf of Finland

have long left
Russia open
to attack.

[Rob] At one end
is Russia's

old capital city
of St. Petersburg

and at the
opposite end,

are Europe's
other great powers:

France,
Germany, Britain.

[narrator] And by
the 1830s,

the Russians
needed to build

a new fort in
the Gulf itself

to keep their
capital safe.

They had to create
a complete
artificial island

to accommodate
this defensive
structure.

[narrator]
Building an island,

then the fort
on top,

took seven years.

The result was
the distinctively
designed

Fort Alexander.

[Sergey]
Both Russian

and European
military forces

considered it to
be an impregnable
stronghold

with powerful
artillery.

There were 103 guns
in the casemates,

There were 103 guns
in the casemates,

and 34 on
the top layer,

which is open.

Military ships
of the time

couldn't breach
these defenses.

[narrator]
But the guns

of the Tsar's
imperious fortress

would never
fire a single
shot in battle.

Because by 1845,

soon after
its completion,

Fort Alexander
had become
redundant.

[Rob] Military
weaponry

was becoming
so powerful

that the
fort's walls

could no longer
withstand

an enemy's
shelling.

[narrator] But
decades later,

the fort did
see action

when Russia
was attacked
by an enemy

far more deadly
than any navy.

[narrator]
In the late
19th century,

a pandemic of
the bubonic plague

was spreading
across the world.

The plague had
already ravaged
parts of the globe

twice before.

In the 6th century

and in the
14th century.

This disease
spread from
country to country

through
different ports.

At every port,

rats would escape
from the ships,

but it was really
their fleas that
spread the disease.

[narrator]
And by the 1890s,

with the growth
of international trade,

the so-called
Third Plague Pandemic
was reaching its peak.

the so-called
Third Plague Pandemic
was reaching its peak.

[Rob] It had
already reached
parts of Europe

and was now
knocking on
Russia's door.

[Sergey] The Russian
government was aware

of the importance
of controlling
the pandemic

because of
the outbreaks in
China and India,

near Russia's
borders.

[Rob] The Russian
government decides

they're going to
study the disease
in a lab...

have lots of
scientists working
with samples,

trying to find
a vaccine.

trying to find
a vaccine.

And, of course,
they had the perfect
place to do it.

[narrator]
The isolated
artificial island

of Fort Alexander,

with its high-level
security,

was about to come
into its own.

[Sergey] In 1897,

this place was chosen

to accommodate
the plague research
laboratory.

[narrator]
The mighty fort

had to be
repurposed

to contain
the unseen enemy
inside its walls.

to contain
the unseen enemy
inside its walls.

[Sergey] When
the laboratory
was created,

the fort was divided
into two parts:

the right part was
for infectious work,

the left part was
kept clean.

[narrator] Within
the infectious side
of the fort,

the laboratory setup
was scrupulous.

[Sergey]
The laboratory
was equipped

with the latest
technology.

There was
steam-heating...

gas and electric
supplies...

designated
research areas

and staff rooms.

[Sascha] The labs
in their operation

were pretty
sophisticated
for the time.

And they have,
you know, vials,

test tubes,
lab coats.

[narrator]
The first floor
of the fort

had a series of
laboratory facilities,

had a series of
laboratory facilities,

libraries,
conference rooms,

and something
surprising.

[Sergey]
This room was most
probably used

as a stable
for horses.

[narrator] Rodents,
monkeys and reindeer

were also used
for trials here.

[Alicia] They
brought in animals
to this fort,

so that they could
infect them
with the plague.

[Rob] There are
photographs

of how they'd
perform autopsies
on the animals,

of how they'd
perform autopsies
on the animals,

pinning their legs
back with wires.

It's gruesome stuff.

[narrator]
The laboratories

extended to
the fort's
second floor.

[Alicia]
They experimented

with different types
of the disease.

They even made
a dust that could
be inhaled.

And in other
instances,

they simply injected
the specimen

into animals'
windpipes.

[narrator]
It was only
a matter of time

before something
went wrong.

before something
went wrong.

[narrator]
In an abandoned
fort turned into

a plague laboratory,

19th-century
Russian scientists

were carrying out
experiments

that could cost
them their lives.

[Rob]
With all the lab's
sophistication,

they still couldn't
completely remove

the possibility
of the disease
escaping.

[narrator] The site
reveals how
the scientists

[narrator] The site
reveals how
the scientists

used the isolation
of the fort's
upper level

to deal with
the unthinkable.

We're now on
the third floor
of the fort

where an infirmary
was set up

in case any
of the staff

became infected
with the plague.

[narrator]
Despite stringent
safety measures,

they had to use
this isolation unit
at the start of 1904,

they had to use
this isolation unit
at the start of 1904,

when the plague
laboratory's
head doctor

contracted
the plague and died.

Three years later,

the disease
escaped again.

This time
the esteemed
epidemiologist

Lev Podlevsky

and his friend
and colleague
Dr. Schreiber

were on
the front line.

When Schreiber
developed symptoms
of the plague,

Dr. Podlevsky
rushed him up

to the dreaded
third floor.

This is where
Dr. Schreiber came
when he fell ill.

[narrator] He died
within three days

and with the body
still contagious,

Dr. Podlevsky
had to perform
the autopsy.

[Sascha] Shortly after
the post-mortem
of his colleague,

Dr. Podlevsky
started to feel

a burning sensation
in his fingers.

a burning sensation
in his fingers.

[narrator] But
the researchers'
sacrifices

were about to
pay off.

[Sascha]
Things looked grim
for Dr. Podlevsky,

and his colleagues
started administering

some of
the antidotes

they'd been
working on.

And in a few days,

it looked
like they were
starting to work.

[narrator]
Podlevsky and the
other scientists

had developed
a cure.

He'd been given
the anti-plague serum

developed here
in this laboratory.

Within about
10 or 12 days,

Within about
10 or 12 days,

he started to
feel better.

And he eventually
recovered.

It was very fortunate
that Dr. Podlevsky
could be cured.

[narrator] As well as
finding an antidote
to the plague,

the fort scientists
also worked
successfully

on diseases
such as tetanus,

typhoid and cholera.

But in 1917,

But in 1917,

the Russian Revolution
brought the work

of the imperialist
plague laboratory
to an end.

With the antidote
inaccessible to most,

the Third Plague
Pandemic lived on

for the next
four decades,

claiming
15 million lives

before petering
out in 1959.

[narrator]
Fort Alexander
earned a reputation

not through firing
and killing people,

but through
saving lives.

And Sergey Solovyev
wants to preserve it

to remember those
who gave their lives
to do so.

Today the fort
is in a really
bad condition

and needs a lot of
restoration work.

[narrator]
In the remote

Telega region
of Romania

lies an imposing
set of ruins.

[Jim] You come
across the big
steel gate...

leading to
a building

that looks like
something out of
a Dickens novel.

[Dominic] There are
also outside spaces

around the
outer parts,

around the
outer parts,

which are almost
like courtyards
or gardens.

[Sascha] It looks
like a mansion
or a wealthy home,

but once you
get inside,

the story is
completely different.

[Dominic] There are
gaping holes
in the roofs,

whole walls
turned to rubble.

[narrator] A bizarre
broken replica of
the building itself

hints at its greater
significance.

[Sascha]
This ruined building
set in motion

a chain of events
that would change
this country forever.

[narrator] This is
Doftana Prison.

Scott Allsop studies
this tattered site

which once filled
Romanians with dread.

[Scott]
Doftana, I've been
surprised to find,

is not really
remembered that much
by many Romanians,

and yet the prison
guards regarded
this as, like,

the Bastille
of Romania.

[narrator] The complex
dates back to 1895,

but it wasn't until
two decades later

that it came
into its own.

What was happening
in the early years
of the Soviet Union

turned a lot of
heads in Romania,

where a battle
was brewing

between the monarchy
and the communists.

[narrator] In 1924,
under King Ferdinand,

the Government
outlawed communism
in Romania.

[Jim] He designated
this location

[Jim] He designated
this location

to become
a prison

for political
prisoners.

[narrator]
By the mid-1920s,

around 300
political prisoners

were locked up
in Doftana.

[Scott] The fact
that there is
a single place

where the
burgeoning

Romanian
Communist Party

was all
placed together

is absolutely
fascinating.

[Dominic] If you
lock up together

a group of active,
passionate

a group of active,
passionate

political ideologues,

you're asking
for trouble.

[narrator]
In Romania
in the 1930s,

the foreboding
Doftana Prison

became a hotbed
for revolution

when the country's
young communists

were locked
up here.

[Jim]
They can develop
their ideology,

they can
indoctrinate
other prisoners

into their ideology,

so that by the time
they get out,

They are a much more
disciplined force.

They are a much more
disciplined force.

[narrator]
The prisoners were
even compiling

a communist newspaper

from within
Doftana's walls.

[Sascha] The fact
that they were
able to do this

all under the noses
of the guards

was amazing.

[narrator]
The site reveals
the ingenuity

of Doftana's
prisoners.

So, in some
of the cells
in Doftana

there were
heating pipes,

similar to this one
back here.

similar to this one
back here.

And as a way
to communicate,

many of
the communists

developed
a tapping system

in order to
send messages
between cells

by using the
heating system.

[Dominic] They used
wooden bed slats

to pass pencils
and documents
through cell bars.

They even stitched
makeshift bags

from bedding
materials

to help pass
around

their clandestine
materials.

[narrator] But
how did they get
the newspaper out?

A nearby river
might hold
the answer.

Doftana is positioned
on the hills
just behind me,

and the storm drains

that were within
the prison grounds,

ran down to
this river.

And so,
the newspaper

was sent down
the storm drains

and ended up
in this river

where they were
collected by local
party members.

The communists
inside the walls

were absolutely
determined to get
their story out.

[Sascha]
These were men

[Sascha]
These were men

who believed in
a political cause,

and they were
willing to go to
great risks

to try to bring that
cause into reality.

[narrator] And
the wide-reaching
influence

of Doftana Prison
didn't end there.

[Dominic]
An extremely
famous leader,

who's changed
the course

of modern Romanian
history forever,

was once
held right here
in Doftana.

[Scott] In 1936,

a new inmate
was sentenced

a new inmate
was sentenced

to two-years
imprisonment

for communist
activities.

[narrator] The name
of this new arrival

was Nicolae
Ceausescu.

[Scott] By the time
Ceausescu was sent
here to Doftana

at 18 years old,

he was already
described

as a dangerous
communist agitator.

[Dominic] Ceausescu
was young, headstrong

and utterly
captivated by
communist ideology.

[Sascha] On his
arrival there,

he would have
been surrounded by

he would have
been surrounded by

like-minded
communist activists.

[narrator] The Monarchy
was still in control,

but that was
soon to end.

[Sascha] World War II
completely changed

the landscape
of Romania.

They were one of
the most active allies
of Nazi Germany.

[Jim] The Germans
were finally pushed out
by Soviet troops.

In the aftermath
of the War,

the Soviets
installed

the communist
government
in Romania.

the communist
government
in Romania.

[narrator] The man
at the helm

was Gheorghe
Gheorghiu-Dej,

a former Doftana
inmate imprisoned
with Ceausescu.

Following a series
of earthquakes,

the newly installed
communist government

closed the
prison down

and repurposed it
for its own
glorification.

[Scott]
It was opened
as a museum

to effectively honor
all of those founders

of Romanian communism
who had been held here.

of Romanian communism
who had been held here.

[narrator]
The propaganda
museum

even featured
a scale model of
the place itself.

Doftana was absolutely vital

to the communist
leadership.

It was important
that they were
able to show

how Communism was
effectively able

to conquer
the bourgeois
elements of society

that had
preceded it.

We have evidence
of leading communists
from China

being brought on
tours to Doftana

to prove how communism
was able to overcome
those obstacles.

to prove how communism
was able to overcome
those obstacles.

[narrator]
When Gheorghiu-Dej
died in 1965,

Ceausescu
came to power.

[Jim] Ceausescu
went from being
a revered leader

to an incredibly
feared dictator.

[Scott] As his time
in office went on,

he became
increasingly
totalitarian

and violent against
his own people.

Ceausescu's control

Ceausescu's control

was really
summarized by
the secret police

that he introduced
into the country.

[Sascha]
Ceausescu's Romania

is one of
the worst examples
in existence

of a truly
totalitarian,

repressive
communist dictatorship.

[narrator]
Eventually,

the collapse of
communism triggered

violent uprisings
in Romania.

[Sascha] In 1989,

Ceausescu ordered
his forces
to open fire

Ceausescu ordered
his forces
to open fire

on anti-government
demonstrators,

and this was just
a step too far

for the Romanian
people.

[Dominic] The armed
forces revolted

and captured
Ceausescu

before putting
him on trial

and convicting him
of mass murder.

Ceausescu's end
came when
he was shot

by a firing squad
on Christmas Day.

[gunshot]

[narrator]
Doftana Prison also
fell from grace.

[Jim] No one was
really interested
in going back

to the prison as
a kind of monument,

and it continued
to decay and fall
into disrepair.

[narrator] Today,

the authorities continue
to leave the prison to rot.

[Sascha] The terrifying
leaders that emerged from it

will long-remain a part of
the Romanian consciousness.

[narrator]
In the deep
south of Chile,

a town frozen
in time

sits at the edge
of a crystal
blue lake.

[Dougal] It doesn't
really look like

your average
lakeside resort.

[narrator]
In one of the most

sparsely populated
places on Earth,

are the remains
of a once
prosperous town.

[Lynette]
There are shops
and a school

[Lynette]
There are shops
and a school

and a football field.

And there is
everything you'd want
in a nice town,

it's just empty.

[Dougal]
There's lots
of abandoned,

kind of,
rusting machinery.

There's clearly
something that would have
been being processed.

[narrator]
A curious structure
built into a mountain

could offer up
some clues.

[Alicia] It's almost
as if the building

has been draped
into the hillside.

has been draped
into the hillside.

[Dougal] I guess
it's trying to use,
in some way,

the geography
that's already there,
but why?

[narrator] Luis
Casanova's father

bought this
now deserted site

back in 1995.

[Luis] Well,
the first time
that I came here,

I was about
ten-years-old.

I was about
ten-years-old.

The feeling was
like this place
was alive.

[narrator] This is
Puerto Cristal.

In Patagonia,
in the Aysen region,

this deserted town
seems to sit

at the end
of the world.

[Lynette]
90 years ago,

there was almost
nothing here...

until the first
family moved in.

[narrator] Luis has
studied the story
of Puerto Cristal

[narrator] Luis has
studied the story
of Puerto Cristal

and knows of
the tragedy

that befell
its first settlers.

[Luis]
The first family
that lived here

was called
the Inallao family.

They settled here

because they wanted
to have a life,

uh, farming.

[narrator]
Saturnino Inallao

arrived with
his family
in the 1930s.

[Lynette] They were
homesteaders.

They wanted to farm
this countryside.

They wanted to
break this ground.

They wanted to
break this ground.

They came to
stake a claim

and make a life
for themselves

in what they must
have thought

was the wildest
spot on earth.

[narrator]
The Inallao family
built a house

and started farming,

unaware of
the vast riches
below their feet.

[Alicia] One day,

one of the children
in the Inallao family

discovered this
odd-looking rock.

discovered this
odd-looking rock.

And the father
recognized

there was something
unique about it.

[Lynette] It was gray,
it was shiny,
it was heavy.

And Saturnino
took the rock
to his neighbor

and asked him
if he knew
what it was.

[Dougal] The farmer
then gave it to
a supposed friend.

They went off
and actually
found out that,

potentially, there
could have been

a fortune
to be made.

The Inallao family
now had the potential

The Inallao family
now had the potential

to become
millionaires

because of what
they found on
their property.

[Alicia] However,

the Inallao family
would never see
a cent of that.

[narrator]
In the wilds of
Chilean Patagonia

sits a ghost town,

where,
in the 1930s,

one man
and his family

had gone to follow
their dreams.

A find on
their land

promised to bring
untold riches.

[Luis] They
discovered that

this particular rock
had over 60 percent
of lead.

this particular rock
had over 60 percent
of lead.

[narrator]
The mountainous
terrain

was rich in zinc
as well as lead.

[Dougal] Although
you're not
finding gold,

if you find
lead and zinc in
such amounts

that it becomes
commercially viable

to distribute it
around the world,

you can make
a lot of money.

[narrator] But
Saturnino Inallao

had made
the mistake
of asking

the businessman
Silva Ormeno
for help.

[Alicia] As soon
as Ormeno

[Alicia] As soon
as Ormeno

realized that
this was lead,

he went and
registered the land
under his own name,

and he promptly
evicted the Inallao
family.

[narrator] With
Inallao gone,

and the land rights
eventually ending up

with the Aysen
Mining Company,

in 1945,
construction began.

And within
three years,

an efficient
lead and zinc

processing
operation was
in place here.

[Lynette]
At its height,

this was a modern,

effective, productive,

industrial
installation.

[Luis] We are inside
of the processing
plant for the ore.

The first time
I came here,

it was still working.

So, you could
hear the machines,

it was really loud,

and you could see
a lot of dust.

[narrator]
The metallic ores
were easy to mine,

[narrator]
The metallic ores
were easy to mine,

but hard to process.

The rusting relics
at the site

show how
it was done.

The first step
is this,

where you have
a primary crusher.

Then, on the bottom
of this, uh, machine,

you have
a conveyor belt

that moves
all the material
to the next step.

[narrator] Next,
came the grinder.

[Luis] Here,
everything that was
heavy move up,

and the rest
that was lighter,
stayed here.

and the rest
that was lighter,
stayed here.

[narrator]
The operation is
crammed inside

the hill-hugging
building.

[Luis]
The strange shape
of this building,

it's because
they wanted
to make

the process
more efficient.

So, if you
follow the slope
of the hill,

it's easier
to move it.

The last part
of the process

is to allow
the material to,
uh, settle down

because of
the gravity.

And then,
you can pack it
and export it.

[narrator]
By the 1950s,

Puerto Cristal's
lead and zinc

was being exported
all over the world.

The population
had risen to 850,

and the mining
company

did all it could to
keep them here.

[Luis] They give
them everything
they needed.

They didn't
have to pay for
their house,

or the tap water,
electricity,

uh, anything of that.

And they had
access to all
the basic services

And they had
access to all
the basic services

like health,
education.

[Lynette]
This is a place

where Chileans
could come,

could put
their roots down

and could really
feel they were
part of a place.

[narrator]
The industry at
Puerto Cristal

was still
going strong
in the 1990s

when Luis' father
bought in to
the processing plant.

[Luis] He was
really surprised
when he arrived

because he didn't
expect to see
all the buildings

and all
the infrastructure
that you had here.

[narrator] But
the thriving plant

soon fell on
hard times.

[Lynette] The price
of zinc on Asian
markets dropped

and the price
of lead on Asian
markets dropped.

And that meant
that this facility was
no longer viable.

[Luis] In late '90s,

[Luis] In late '90s,

it was so
expensive to be here
extracting the ore.

So, that's
the reason why

he decided to
close the mine.

[narrator] With
no work to keep
them there,

the population left.

Now, Luis wants
to preserve
this place

for the sake
of his father.

[Luis] After my dad
closed the mine,

[Luis] After my dad
closed the mine,

he remained here
until, maybe, 2010,

when he got sick
and had to
leave the place.

And he was
the last habitant
of Puerto Cristal.