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25 years have passed since Chernobyl tragedy

26 April 2011 10:20 (UTC +04:00)

President of Ukraine Victor Yanukovich, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Patriarch of Moscof and All Russia Cyril will attend the events, APA reports quoting UNIAN news agency.

A nuclear accident occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear plant near the Ukraineâ€™s town of Pripyat on April 26, 1986 during a systems test at the plantâ€™s reactor number four. The resulting fire caused fallout of smoke containing 190 tonnes of highly radioactive substances into atmosphere. Experts said total amount of radioactive emissions was 50 million curie, spewing 500 times the radiation of the 1945 Hiroshima nuclear bomb into the atmosphere. More than 145 thousand square km in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus suffered from radioactive pollution. More than 115 000 people were evacuated from the most severely contaminated areas in 30 km of the nuclear plant. Totally 586 000 people, including 200 000 participated in elimination of the accident results, 116 000 population in the areas nearby to Chernobyl and 270 000 population of other regions of Ukraine and Belarus suffered as a result of Chernobyl disaster. 50 people died as a result of explosion, fire and powerful irradiation during the first days. The experts said death toll could reach 4 000 in the future.

Chernobyl nuclear plant was closed on December 15, 2000.