Pripyat


Fewer than three kilometres from the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor, the city of Pripyat was built to house the plant’s workers. But following the April 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Pripyat’s 50,000 inhabitants were quickly evacuated to save them from radiation poisoning. Believing they’d be allowed to return within days, residents left their belongings behind. Toys and books still litter abandoned classrooms.

The town’s amusement park was due open for the 1986 May Day celebrations but, by that date, Pripyat was already a ghost town. Now its rusty ferris wheel has become a chilling symbol of the disaster. It’s believed that it’ll be as long as 320 years before the area surrounding Chernobyl will become habitable once again.

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