Pripyat's 49,000 Residents Kept Uninformed

Throughout the day of April 26, the 49,360 residents of Pripyat — the modern city built to house Chernobyl workers just 3 km from the plant — go about daily life. Schools are open, children play outdoors. City officials receive no evacuation orders. Local Communist Party officials are aware of the explosion but told to maintain calm and say nothing. Radiation levels in the city rise throughout the day.