Chernobyl: Where time stands still
For residents of Chernobyl, a three-day evacuation turned into decades-long exile. On the morning of April 26, 1986, no one could yet tell that a meltdown in reactor 4 of the nuclear plant in then-Soviet Ukraine was poisoning the air with so much deadly radioactivity that it would become the world's worst nuclear accident.
The accident spread radioactivity across Europe and the Soviet Union. Around 50,000 residents of the model Soviet town Pripyat, built in the 1970s to house Chernobyl workers and their families, were evacuated after the disaster, taking only a few belongings.
A painting of a girl decorates an empty building in the abandoned town of Pripyat in the 30 km (19-mile) exclusion zone around the closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant, March 31, 2006.
More Photos: Wildlife flourishes in Chernobyl
Chernobyl 30+ years later
A view of the abandoned city of Pripyat is seen near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine on April 22, 2016.
On the morning of April 26, 1986, one couldn't immediately tell that a meltdown in reactor 4 of the nuclear plant in then-Soviet Ukraine was poisoning the air with deadly radioactive particles.
Abandoned apartment
A lamp hangs in a flat which was evacuated after an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in the ghost town of Pripyat, Ukraine April 18, 2016.
The initial explosion at the power plant killed at least 30 people, exposed millions to dangerous levels of radiation and forced a wide-scale, permanent evacuation of hundreds of towns and villages.
Ghost town
The interior of a kindergarten is seen in the abandoned city of Prypiat near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, April 4, 2011.
The final death toll from Chernobyl is subject to speculation, due to the long-term effects of radiation, but ranges from an estimate of 9,000 by the World Health Organization to a possible 90,000 by the environmental group Greenpeace.
Exclusion zone
An interior view of an apartment in the abandoned city of Pripyat near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, April 18, 2016.
While it is forbidden to remove anything from the radioactive zone, a large amount of portable items have been smuggled out by illegal trophy-hunters and scrap-dealers.
A tree grows
A tree grows out of the door of an abandoned barn in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor, in the abandoned village of Krasnoselie, Belarus, February 17, 2016.
Child's gas mask
A child's gas mask and a shoe are seen at a kindergarten in the abandoned city of Prypiat near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, April 4, 2011.
Abandoned in haste
An interior view of a building shows a double bass in the abandoned city of Prypiat near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, February 24, 2011.
Curious wolf
A wolf looks into a camera set up in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in the abandoned village of Orevichi, Belarus, March 2, 2016.
Over 100,000 people had to abandon the area permanently, leaving native animals the sole occupants of a cross-border "exclusion zone" roughly the size of Luxembourg. (Photo taken with trail camera.)
Disused appliances
A room containing disused appliances in the abandoned city of Prypiat near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, February 22, 2011.
Vacant village
A house is seen in the abandoned village of Zalesye near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, March 28, 2016.
Lenin looks on
A picture of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin is seen through wild flowers inside a hospital in the abandoned town of Pripyat, in the exclusion zone around the closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant, March 31, 2006.
Abandoned kindergarten
A doll is seen amongst beds at a kindergarten in the abandoned city of Pripyat near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, March 28, 2016.
Moss grows
Moss is seen growing on a child's slipper in the ghost town of Pripyat which was evacuated after an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine April 18, 2016.
Soviet symbol
The coat of arms of the former Soviet Union is seen on the roof of a house in Pripyat near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, April 23, 2013.
View from an empty apartment
Trees stand outside a window of an apartment which was evacuated after an explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, in the ghost town of Pripyat, Ukraine April 18, 2016. For residents of Chernobyl, a three-day evacuation turned into a decades-long exile.
On the morning of April 26, 1986, one couldn't immediately tell that a meltdown in reactor 4 of the nuclear plant in then-Soviet Ukraine was poisoning the air with deadly radioactive particles.
Checkpoint
A guard is seen at a checkpoint in Pripyat near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, March 23, 2016.
School in Pripyat
A piano is seen in a kindergarten in the town of Pripyat, in the exclusion zone around the closed Chernobyl nuclear power plant, March 31, 2006.
Swimming pool
A swimming pool in Ukraine's ghost town of Pripyat, which was evacuated after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster is seen, April 13, 2006.
Crucifix in Pripyat
A cross with a crucifix is seen in the deserted Ukrainian town of Pripyat November 27, 2012. The town's population was evacuated following the disaster at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear reactor in 1986.
View of damaged reactor
The sarcophagus covering the damaged fourth reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is seen behind a building decorated with a graffiti in Prypiat April 15, 2011.