From Global News.

Ukraine on Sunday marked the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster during a ceremony at the time the fourth reactor exploded in 1986, with a bell rung by a man wearing a white protective suit and onlookers laying flowers and lighting candles.

Close to the monument, crowds added to the lit candles arranged in the shape of a nuclear symbol.

Millions were exposed to radiation, hundreds of thousands forced to flee, and wide swathes of land contaminated after the accidental explosion and resulting meltdown inside reactor four at the Soviet-built plant in the early hours of April 26, 1986.

Thousands have since succumbed to radiation-related illnesses such as cancer, although the total death toll and long-term health effects remain a subject of intense debate.

A vast international effort saw the installation of a massive steel and concrete arc in 2016 to shield the original sarcophagus, hurriedly built in 1986 to cover tons of radioactive debris.

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