The artificial city that Ukraine built for the workers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was home to almost 50,000 residents in 1986. The fact that the city was located just 4 kilometers from the reactor that suffered the disaster led to a complete evacuation. Pripyat is still located in the uninhabitable 30-kilometer zone around the power plant, which was only completely shut down in 2000.
After the disaster
The city was not evacuated until 36 hours after the accident, and the massive radiation had already killed many people. Those still alive today are suffering from long-term effects. After a brief radio briefing, the evacuation with 1,200 buses took barely three hours.
Because the state let the residents believe that they would be able to return quickly, many things remained in their original state for a long time. Looting and vandalism led to gradual decay.
Conquering nature today
What is particularly impressive is the way nature has reclaimed the city. Much of the area where life was previously unimaginable is now overgrown with forest and bushes. The fauna and flora have proven to be much more robust than humans.
The images of the fairground, the Ferris wheel and the bumper cars have gone around the world. The fairground was supposed to have opened just a few days after the disaster. So a place that was intended for fun and excitement became a symbolic contrast between life and death.
