30 Of The Most Hauntingly Tragic Photographs From Inside Chernobyl

1. Immediately after the blast

Image Source: cbsnews.com

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster occurred on 26th April 1986. On this day, during a safety test, the main reactor went into meltdown, resulting in explosions and a major nuclear disaster. Brave photographers were on the scene in the aftermath of the disaster and managed to capture photographs like this one of the destroyed nuclear reactor.

2. School's abandoned

Image Source: theplanetd.com

Some of the creepiest places near Chernobyl are the schools in Pripyat. As with many of the residences, they were completely abandoned after the disaster, with many students leaving their exercise books, dolls, and blankets behind. This picture shows inside the kindergarten, where the beds are still strewn with bedding.

3. Original newspapers from the day of the disaster

Image Source: theplanetd.com

Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is located near the city of Pripyat, a place that housed thousands of workers who worked at the nearby power plant during the 1970s. Until the nuclear disaster, over 40,000 people lived peacefully in the city, but in the days after the disaster, people fled the city and the rising nuclear radiation levels, leaving almost all their belongings behind.

4. An abandoned gym in Pripyat

Image Source: theplanetd.com

It wasn't just basic belongings like newspapers that were left behind in Pripyat, never to be recovered, after the Chernobyl disaster. The entire city is now a ghost town, and places like the gymnasium are now completely decayed. There's something very spooky about this image of the basketball court inside the gym entirely destroyed.

5. Injuries at the blast site

Image Source: cbsnews.com

Workers in the building after the two explosions that rocked the reactor core immediately escaped the building - but little did they know that they were already injured due to radiation sickness, as massive levels of nuclear radiation contaminated the blast site and surrounding area. This man was filmed in a hospital receiving care for blast injuries and radiation sickness after the disaster.

6. Left in the middle of a book

Image Source: theplanetd.com

Sadly, an evacuation effort in the city of Pripyat did not begin immediately. Many people spent the day after the explosion extremely sick while the government waited to confirm how much physical damage the reactor explosion was doing. Finally, 36 hours after the initial explosion, the people in Pripyat left their homes - forever.

7. Leaving Pripyat

Image Source: edition.cnn.com

In total, more than 100,000 had to evacuate their homes. These people all lived within the 'exclusion zone' that was established around Chernobyl power plant. While the government initially suggested that these people could return after a certain period of time, they never did. These travellers on a bus out of Pripyat probably didn't realise yet that they wouldn't see their homes again.

8. Measuring radiation in Chernobyl

Image Source: edition.cnn.com

A major clean-up effort began in the days after the Chernobyl disaster. However, working around the destroyed power plant remained extremely dangerous, with intense levels of radiation around the site. People called 'liquidators' were responsible for making the plant and surrounding area safe again, and they carried radiation detectors to monitor levels around the site.

9. Containing the radiation

Image Source: edition.cnn.com

In the months after the disaster, it was clear that something more had to be done to contain the radiation from the destroyed nuclear reactor. This picture was taken in August 1986 and shows teams building a thick containment wall around the reactor - which you can see in the background, looking exactly like it did in the moments after the explosion.

10. An entire town leaves

Image Source: cbsnews.com

Inhabitants of Pripyat were helped out of their contaminated town in buses and cars. The entire population of the city all left within just a few hours - every second spent in the high levels of radiation in the city could have long-lasting consequences. In the small buses, it certainly wasn't possible to take many belongings with you.

11. Liquidators clear the roof of radioactive material

Image Source: theatlantic.com

The liquidators were doing an incredibly dangerous job in the days after the disaster. Here, a group cleans debris off the roof of a nearby reactor (Chernobyl had four reactors, and No. 4 was the one that was destroyed). Initially, the government wanted to use robots to clean the site, but they could not handle the intensive radiation levels. Of course, there were also consequences for the humans who helped clear Chernobyl.

12. The disaster site

Image Source: theatlantic.com

This aerial photograph of Chernobyl's reactor No. 4 was taken just a few weeks after the disaster in April 1986. Incredibly, you can still see the extent of the damage to the nuclear reactor. Most of the physical damage was caused by steam explosions within the reactor, which caused irreparable destruction to the reactor.

13. A spooky abandoned amusement park

Image Source: allthatsinteresting.com

Pripyat was still a relatively new city when the Chernobyl disaster occurred in 1986. It was founded in 1970 and only granted city status in 1979, just five short years before the nuclear disaster. As such, many of the city's facilities were still brand new, including the amusement park and Ferris wheel, which now stands spookily abandoned.

14. Handmade suits

Image Source: theatlantic.com

The liquidators who helped clean up the area around Chernobyl after the disaster were mainly military personnel or reservists. Naturally, they didn't have any experience with nuclear disasters, and they weren't well prepared for their job, either. In this photo, you can see a group making their own protective clothing against radiation with lead sheets.

15. Abandoned gas masks

Image Source: allthatsinteresting.com

Gas masks were relatively common in Cold War to guard against potential nuclear attacks. However, this town probably never considered that they would have to wear them because of a nuclear disaster at Chernobyl. These masks have been discarded after looters tried to claim the small amounts of silver inside them.

16. Nature returns

Image Source: theplanetd.com

In the nearby city of Pripyat, nature returns to the abandoned outdoor areas. This used to be the local football field, which is now filled with newly-grown trees and grass. However, water damage has affected many of the buildings in Chernobyl and Pripyat because of how long they've gone unused.

17. TV coverage of the disaster

Image Source: cbsnews.com

This photo shows the original TV coverage of the disaster that was broadcast all around the world in the days following the 26th of April. This photograph in particular was shown on Soviet TV stations on the 30th of April, four days after the explosion that destroyed the reactor.

18. Cleaning up

Image Source: theatlantic.com

This picture was taken on top of the roof of reactor No. 3, where 'biological robots' (otherwise known as human beings) were cleaning up radioactive debris before the entire reactor could be contained. These men could only work for a couple of minutes at a time, or they would receive too much radiation.

19. Helping patients with radiation injuries

Image Source: theatlantic.com

After the Chernobyl disaster, many patients were taken to specialist hospitals in Russian cities to recover and get help. Here, a patient recovers after a bone marrow transplant, but because of high levels of radiation still, the doctor cannot actually come into close contact with his own patient. Instead, a plastic screen surrounds the patient.

20. Containing houses

Image Source: theatlantic.com

Containment didn't just apply to the Chernobyl nuclear reactor after the disaster in April 1986. In the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, many houses were also contaminated with radioactive material and had to be contained. In this picture, you can see a bulldozer burying a house under a mound of earth so that the radiation cannot leak into the surrounding area.

21. Swimming pools without water

Image Source: theplanetd.com

You might be surprised to hear that the swimming pool in Pripyat actually had a longer life than many other facilities. In fact, many of the 'liquidators' used the swimming pool in Pripyat while they continued with work to clear the disaster site. The swimming pool didn't actually close until 1998.

22. An abandoned supermarket

Image Source: theplanetd.com

Today, it is possible to visit Pripyat, and many tourists have documented the state of decay that the town has been left in. This Soviet-era supermarket is now covered with layers of dust - which may still be radioactive. Amazingly, you can still see the riws of fridges, while shopping carts still sit at the entrance to the store.

23. Street art in the town 

Image Source: theplanetd.com

We've already seen how nature started reclaiming the city of Pripyat in the years after the evacuation of residents. Today, though, it is still possible to see joyous street art that was created in the heyday of the city, when residents were optimistic about work opportunities at the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

24. Hospitals lie abandoned

Image Source: cbsnews.com

Many people were taken to Pripyat's local hospital in the hours following the nuclear explosion at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. One of them was a firefighter called Vasily Ivanovich Ignatenko, who started to suffer acute radiation sickness after attempting to put out fires on the roof of reactor No. 4 at Chernobyl. However, many patients were subsequently removed to other hospitals in Russia and Ukraine, leaving the Pripyat hospital abandoned.

25. Lost books

Image Source: cbsnews.com

This is another photo inside an abandoned school in Pripyat. Here, many books were left behind as the residents tried to evacuate quickly from the contaminated city. Today, these books can still be seen sitting on the shelves inside an abandoned schoolroom - though it certainly wouldn't be advised to take one home with you.

26. The extent of the damage

Image Source: theguardian.com

This photo of Chernobyl's reactor No. 4 was taken before work started on building the containment wall around the reactor - colloquially called the 'Sarcophagus'. Thus, it's possible to see the true extent of the damage, which destroyed most of the building the reactor was housed in.

27. Removing debris

Image Source: emergency-live.com

As we've mentioned, it was extremely dangerous for liquidators to work on top of the roof of the reactors at Chernobyl. However, it was vital that all radioactive debris was removed before the containment wall could be built around the reactor. These men should only have worked once for around 90 seconds. However, many liquidators reported returning to the roof multiple times.

28. The heroes of Chernobyl

Image Source: emergency-live.com

Firefighters were the first people to arrive on-site at Chernobyl to tackle the first at the reactor. However, they weren't told just how dangerous exposure to high levels of radiation would be and carried on with their job until they fell seriously ill. Today, these firefighters are considered heroes.

29. Checking children for radiation

Image Source: theatlantic.com

Just a month after the disastrous explosion at Chernobyl, radiation levels were high across the whole of Europe. In Kopylovo, a small town near Kyiv, Soviet doctors were dispatched to measure residents' radiation levels - including small children. Many people living near Chernobyl fell ill in the months and years after the disaster.

30. Handmade radiation shields

Image Source: theatlantic.com

This liquidator stands on the roof of one of the reactors at Chernobyl. You can see that he's wearing a handmade helmet made of lead sheets that he has tried to form into a shield to prevent radiation from getting to his skin. These handmade protective shields were the only thing that was helping to protect these workers from getting serious radiation sickness.