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Abandoned villages

More than 350,000 people were evacuated from severely contaminated areas after the Chernobyl accident, and a 30-km Exclusion Zone was created round the plant. Nearly 200 villages inside the zone had to be abandoned.Disconnected telephone wires hang outside an empty house in the Belarusian village of Babchin, once a community of more than 700 people.Painted wooden houses with ornately carved window frames are typical of the region. This one is in Babchin, Belarus.The Exclusion Zone is not an exact circle, since its boundaries have been adjusted on both sides of the Ukraine-Belarus border to match the uneven pattern of contamination. But several hundred hectares of land remain out of bounds for normal life.The interior of an abandoned house in Babchin, Belarus. The wood-burning oven, centrepiece of the home, has collapsed and wallpaper has peeled from the walls.A well in the abandoned village of Babchin, Belarus. Many local wells were closed off after the Chernobyl accident to prevent residents drinking contaminated water.Once rich agricultural land in the Exclusion Zone is now overrun by tall grass and weeds, and farm buildings have fallen into decay. A former collective farm lies empty in the Ukrainian Exclusion Zone.Some villages were so badly contaminated that the buildings were bulldozed and buried to ensure no one could return. About 1,000 people used to live in Kopachi in Ukraine, about 2 km from the Chernobyl plant. No sign remains of their homes except for grass-covered hillocks and radiation warning signs.Kopachi's kindergarten is the only building that survived the demolition of the village. Toys lie strewn around its abandoned rooms.
Last update: 10/09/2014

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