Today, the world marks the anniversary of the largest man-made disaster in history

Today, the world marks the 38th anniversary of the greatest man-made disaster in history – the Chernobyl nuclear accident, Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform wrote.

On April 26, 1986, at 1:23 a.m. local time, a powerful explosion occurred in the third nuclear reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the USSR, on the territory of today’s Ukraine. The fire services fought non-stop with the fire in the power plant until 5:00 in the morning, but in general, the last smoldering sections were neutralized only on May 10, on the territory of the fourth reactor, Ukrinform describes the tragic events.

The agency recalls that after the explosion, a radioactive cloud was formed and began to move, and in the first days after the accident, the population of the territory within a radius of 10 kilometers around the Chernobyl NPP was evacuated. The evacuation zone was subsequently extended to 30 kilometers.

Radioactive contamination affected 2,293 settlements in Ukraine, in which more than 2.6 million people lived, Ukrinform said, adding that as a result of the disaster, agricultural activities were stopped on more than 5 million hectares of arable land.

Since 2004, April 26 has been the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Radiation Accidents and Disasters. Since 2017, the day has been marked as the International Day in Memory of the Chernobyl Disaster. As a result of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the territory of 17 countries in Europe with a total area of ​​207,500 sq. km was affected by radioactive contamination, of which nearly 60,000 sq. km are outside the borders of the former USSR. The Chernobyl NPP was finally closed on December 15, 2000.