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1986 Today: Catastrophic environmental disaster
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On this day (April 26) in 1986, the most destructive environmental disaster in history occurred. An explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine (then the Soviet Union) released radiation into the atmosphere.
As a result, two people died instantly. Within three months of the explosion, 27 people died from radiation-related illnesses.
After the accident, 50,000 people were evacuated within 36 hours from the surrounding area due to the huge impact on health and environment. At the time of the accident, 18,000 children under the age of 14 had thyroid cancer.
In the city of Chernobyl, 65 kilometers northeast of the city of Kiev in Ukraine, there were four nuclear reactors producing 1/1000 megawatts of electricity. Among them, there was an accident during a safety exercise in furnace number four.
According to the United Nations, at least 9,000 people died of cancer by 2005 due to post-explosion radiation. An organization called "Greenpeace" has estimated that 200,000 people died due to the accident.
