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Catastrophe

Back to Chernobyl

April 22, 2021

The disaster at Chernobyl is still considered one of the worst nuclear accidents in history. It happened on April 26, 1986. Thirty-five years later, a group of survivors returns to the ghost city of Pripyat.

https://p.dw.com/p/3pzDh
Ukraine Pripyat | Geisterstadt nach Chernobyl
Image: picture-alliance/iamgeBROKER/L. Schreiber

A senior engineer who worked building the reactor, a maternity doctor from a local hospital, and an 11-year-old girl evacuated from Pripyat survived, as did a firefighter who served in Reactor Block 4 and an army officer who was in charge of removing radioactive debris from the reactor's roof.

Tschernobyl Sperrzone und die Stadt Pripyat
Image: DW/D.Kaniewski

This documentary follows them as they return to their deserted homes for the first time. Their memories come together like pieces of a puzzle that depicts the fateful events of 1986. Firefighters and soldiers who became known as "liquidators" risked their lives to stabilize the site and prevent even greater radioactive contamination of Europe and the world. Only a few survived the mission.

Tschernobyl Gebäude Schule
Image: picture alliance/dpa/M.Palmer

This emotional documentary recounts a major historical drama in small, intimate stories, while using never before seen archive material that the people of Pripyat had hidden in their homes.

Broadcasting Hours: 

DW English

WED 28.04.2021 – 01:15 UTC
WED 28.04.2021 – 05:15 UTC
THU 29.04.2021 – 09:15 UTC
SAT 01.05.2021 – 02:15 UTC
SUN 02.05.2021 – 08:15 UTC

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Lagos UTC +1 | Cape Town UTC +2 | Nairobi UTC +3 
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DW Deutsch+

THU 29.04.2021 – 09:15 UTC
SUN 02.05.2021 – 08:15 UTC 

Vancouver UTC -7 | New York UTC -4 | Sao Paulo UTC -3