{"id":63398,"date":"2026-02-11T23:01:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T22:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=63398"},"modified":"2026-04-16T08:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T06:31:33","slug":"the-radioactive-basement-of-pripyat-hospital-a-very-dangerous-place-where-it-is-still-1986","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/02\/11\/the-radioactive-basement-of-pripyat-hospital-a-very-dangerous-place-where-it-is-still-1986\/","title":{"rendered":"The radioactive basement of Pripyat Hospital, a very dangerous place where it is still 1986"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, urban exploration has become a very common practice, and one that sometimes involves very extreme risks.<\/p>\n

The radioactive trains at Yaniv station in the Chernobyl exclusion zone<\/a><\/rel>
\nThis is the Dead Zone of Belarus: the most restricted of all those around Chernobyl<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

An example of this can be seen in the incursions that some explorers make into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone<\/strong>, which includes the areas most contaminated by the serious nuclear accident that occurred on April 26, 1986, in what was then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the USSR. That accident led to the evacuation of the city of Pripyat<\/strong>, built in 1970 to house the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The first people injured in the accident, specifically firefighters and nuclear power plant personnel, were treated at the Pripyat Hospital<\/strong>, officially designated Medical Unit No. 126.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
A photo of the interior of the Pripyat Hospital, in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (Photo: H\u00fcseyin K\u0131l\u0131\u00e7<\/a>).<\/div>\n

The clothes worn by the injured were highly contaminated with radioactive dust.<\/strong> Mere contact with these garments caused skin burns to the hospital staff. The clothes were stored in the building's basement; they are still there.<\/strong> In the 2000s, an urban explorer discovered this basement and recorded a video of his exploration, which he later posted online. That video sparked a series of incursions by other explorers into the extremely dangerous basement<\/strong>, unaware of the great risk they were taking.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
One of the operating rooms at Pripyat Hospital (Photo: Victor Asensio<\/a>).<\/div>\n

The problem with these incursions reached such a point that the Exclusion Zone authorities decided to fill the basement with sand to seal it<\/strong>. However, the amount of sand poured was not enough, as it is a very large basement, and there are still reckless people who continue to take a deadly risk by entering it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n
The radioactive clothing that was removed from the firefighters and staff of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in April 1986 and that is still stored in the basement of the Pripyat Hospital, an extremely dangerous place (Source: Chornobyl Family<\/a>).<\/div>\n

A few days ago, Alex, a Ukrainian scientist working in the Exclusion Zone, posted a video on the YouTube channel Chornobyl Family<\/a>, showing images of that basement recorded years ago by one of the workers in charge of periodically inspecting it<\/strong>, inspections that shouldn't be done (employees have to go down wearing special suits and CBRN protective masks) but are done because of the incursions of urban explorers:<\/strong><\/p>\n